ABSTRACT
The fundamental principles of airline sustainability lie in economics and in the corporate decisions concerning how resources are used to supply travellers’ demands. Applying the principles of full sustainability to a decision ensures that the airline is surrounded by an aura – its reputation – transmitted in the corporate behaviours at stakeholder touch-points and beyond. Corporate behaviours emanate from strategic and tactical decisions made somewhere in the airline: decisions on resource allocation, customer service style, supply chain security, engine procurement, philanthropic strategy, asset ownership and a multitude of other issues of varying magnitude which concern the internal and external stakeholders. Decisions are pivotal to economically sustainable airlines’ success and must take account of comprehensive cost-benefit analyses, time frames and opinions. Much has been written about decision-making and governance and every airline has the opportunity to hook into that research. However, in the interests of objectivity, economically sustainable airlines must challenge the origins of any research, always wary of vested interests and their tendency towards advocacy.
