Society is quite concerned about the level of greenhouse gases that are being emitted by various businesses. Many firms are responding by becoming more candid about the effects that their operations are having on the planet. Some are reporting this information through formal reports that follow the Global Reporting Initiative guidelines. Others are simply posting more environmental information on their websites.

British Airways (BA), the flag-carrier airline of the United Kingdom, adopted a One Destination policy in 1984. The overall objective is to act responsibly with respect to air travel. The company’s website lists four areas in which BA will act responsibly: environment, community, marketplace, and workplace. Environment includes reducing carbon waste and noise and improving air quality, community involves supporting charities and community, marketplace involves encouraging customers and suppliers to be responsible, and workplace involves creating an environment that motivates, engages, supports, and develops the company’s employees.

One of BA’s environmental goals is to ensure that the airline reduces its carbon dioxide emissions. It is doing this, in part, by buying more fuel-efficient airplanes that are also quieter. The company is replacing its fleet of Boeing 767-300 and Boeing 747-400 aircraft with a mixture of Airbus A380s and Boeing 787s. According to the BA website, “The Airbus A380 has 17% lower fuel burn per seat than the Boeing 747 [and] the A380 emits about 10% less NOx per aircraft than the Boeing 747–400.” Overall, BA is trying to do its part in reducing its carbon footprint.

In September 2009, BA was accused of hypocrisy when it announced that it was launching “Club World London City,” a luxury service between London and New York. Customers would pay £1,901 to

£5,000 for a return ticket to travel on a customized Airbus A318, a plane that is smaller than the A380. The A318, which normally holds 100 people, would seat just thirty-two passengers. The environmental group Plane Stupid protested the maiden flight. Greenpeace said that the service was

“another example of BA saying one thing, and doing another. Only last week, Willie Walsh [BA’s CEO] announced that the industry is committed to playing its part in the fight against climate change. But it is blindingly obvious that the aviation industry doesn’t intend to cut emissions at all.

Rather airlines, like BA, want to pay other countries and sectors to make those cuts so that the industry can carry on with business as usual.”

BA’s main source of revenue is the yield on premium seats, the seats that are often occupied with business people. However, these yields had recently fallen by 10% as passengers traded down to economy seats.

The Club World London City flights, designed for business-class travelers, fly out of the Dockland’s airport, close to London’s financial district.

Questions:-

1. Do you think that British Airways is being hypocritical?
2. British Airways is attempting to reduce its carbon footprint by flying more fuel- efficient airplanes, such as the A318. The carbon footprint per passenger is lower if 100 people occupy the A318 rather than only 32 people. Does the airline also have a responsibility to reduce each passenger’s carbon footprint?
3. The passengers who fly on the Club World London City flight pay a substantial premium for the luxury accommodation. Do you think that the increased premium they pay offsets the increased carbon footprint of having only 32 passengers in the airplane?
4. Is it socially responsible for British Airways to fly 32 passengers in an aircraft that can normally hold 100 passengers?