Airlines Increase Fuel Efficiency 15-20 Percent

For the first time ever, air traffic controllers are giving pilots more flexibility with their flight plans on transatlantic flights. This change in airlines strategy is largely due to the vast reduction in the number of flights taking place with the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as advances in satellite technology. Prior to the pandemic, the daily average of flights was 1700, however, it is now down to around 500. This means that pilots routes can be decided “based entirely on optimum route, speed and trajectory" (CNN, Will Godley). By choosing the best paths, airlines are also able to cut down on fuel costs as well as emissions. This opportunity is equivalent to upgrading to the next generation aircraft, and improving fuel efficiency 15-20 percent. Airlines are planning to take advantage of this both in terms of cutting costs and following through with their promises to be more sustainable. In the case of United Airlines, they recognized that it will significantly help in working towards their goal of “reducing 100% of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”

In terms of the marketing mix, I thought that this article was interesting because of the promotion aspect. Airlines are using this new development to satisfy their customers' demand for more sustainable outcomes. They are able to leverage their stance as a sustainable industry/company while simultaneously cutting down on time and costs. I would argue this is going to create more value within the company because they are being responsible in terms of profit, stakeholders and society. This example illustrates how important environmental scanning is. It shows how identifying and interpreting the trend of less-busy skies contributed to the implementation of the marketing mix, rather than the other way around. This demonstrates how environmental factors equally contribute to marketing strategy.

I believe that this example reveals both strong and weak sustainability attributes. To me, there are components of weak sustainability in that it is still only a small incremental change in the larger picture. I am interested in whether this is only because of the pandemic and for the time being, or if this will be able to continue when people start to fly much more. It also seems pretty optional, I would want to know how many pilots are planning to do this and whether it is being enforced. I think that at the same time this decision has the potential to change the system significantly and be adopted widely. It is a great example of socio-technical change; that is people's actions are changing in response to new information and technology. I feel that it is important to pay attention to what will happen in the industry in terms of short term and long term practices and results to determine whether strong sustainability outweighs potentially weak aspects of this plan.

Godley, W. (2021, February 10). Airlines can Now pick their own routes across the ATLANTIC. huge fuel savings could follow. Retrieved February 17, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/business/airlines-fuel-savings-routes/index.html

Feb 12th, 5:10 pm

Photo by A. Bosworth