Identifying the best practices of airlines’ green operations strategy: A cross‐regional worldwide survey

Abstract

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to report the best practices of airlines’ green operations strategies throughout the world by surveying airlines from different regions. To realize this goal, a sample of 23 airlines from different regions (North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East) was surveyed. The sample suited the availability of the secondary published data. For the study, the annual sustainability reports of surveyed airlines from the period of 2013 to 2016 were reviewed. The reports were retrieved from the Global Reporting Initiative website and from airline websites. To gain insight into the best practices, two analytical approaches were adopted: cross‐sampling and cluster analysis. The study revealed that the best practices are related to several green indicators, and the actions in best practice were closer to process‐oriented than to technology‐oriented actions. This is one of a very few studies to report the best practices in green operations strategy over time by airlines at the global level.