Ethical Issues in the Aviation Sector

This assignment explores the complex ethical issues present within the aviation sector. It delves into topics such as safety reporting, environmental responsibility, and passenger rights, analyzing how these ethical considerations impact the industry's reputation and operations. The report also examines the global perception of aviation ethics and the role of codes of conduct in guiding decision-making during challenging situations.

Ethics And Ethical Issues In Aviation
INSTITUTION
COURSE UNIT
STUDENTS NAME
STUDENTS ID NUMBER
TASK
Business ethics in Aviation
DATE
11th August 2017
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Ethics And Ethical Issues In Aviation
Abstract
The purpose of this report is to critically examine various aspects related to aviation ethics
and how they positively or negatively affect the aviation sector. To be specific, this report
aims at identifying the ethical issues in the aviation sector, how such ethics can be managed
and the importance of managing such ethics. The report generally focuses on the aviation
sector without being specific on any major airline company. However, it also explains areas
where sustainability has been portrayed despite the ethical issues involved. A detailed
explanation of the above-mentioned aspects is as discussed below.
Introduction
Business ethics refers to the professional rules that any business organization is required to
follow for its smooth running. Ethical issues, on the other hand, refer to the problems or
controversies, which arise when businesses do not professionally adhere to the set
international ethics. The chosen sector for this report is the airline (aviation) sector. The
aviation sector is one of the sectors of any global economy, which contribute to the fast
growth and development of that particular economy. According to (Shaw & Barry, 2015,
p.67), the aviation sector has provided jobs to over 58 million people while accruing an
annual profit margin of $2.4 trillion. Good business relations among nations emerge when
transport to and fro those nations is easy. This is majorly made possible by the aviation
sector. This sector, therefore, proves to be a very important area of study for this report.
There has been a prolonged argument on the ethics that should be applied to the aviation
sector. Some professionals argue that some of the activities undertaken by airline companies
are ethical while others oppose such claims. On the basis of the above aspects, the following
are the objectives of this report.
i. To identify the ethical issues in the aviation sector.
ii. To discuss the major stakeholders in the aviation sector.
iii. To review the importance of managing business ethics to the aviation sector.
The following is the detailed analysis of the aviation sector in relation to some major chosen
concepts discussed below.
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Ethics And Ethical Issues In Aviation
Analysis of the aviation sector
Ethical issues facing the aviation sector
Safety is a major ethical issue in the aviation sector. There are two major ethical issues
regarding safety, which are really facing the aviation sector. One of these is the overbooking
of flights. One might wonder how this is possible. According to (Hoppe, 2016, p.110),a
website of Southwest Airlines indicated that the company would open a chance for
passengers to book and get their air tickets when some passengers did not respond towards
their travel, or when those who had earlier booked the flight did not arrive early enough at the
respective airports. The problem now came in when all the passengers who had earlier and
later booked the flight will all be available for the flight a few minutes before the plane took
off. With no otherwise, the company would now decide to bump all the passengers in one
plane. This is still practiced in many nations till today. However, this is very risky since the
plane is designed to carry a specific measured weight which when exceeded; chances of the
occurrence of an accident are very high. Relevant and quick action should, therefore, be taken
on this ethical issue to ensure that safety is maintained.
Secondly, there is also an ethical issue on cramped seats. Several airline companies insert and
fix unlawfully designed seats on their planes so as to accommodate more passengers and
hence make more profits. According to (Ferrell & Fraedrich, 2015, p.33), these seats are
uncomfortable and may lead to severe medical problems to those passengers who sit on them.
Several passengers have reported cases of back pains and blood clots, which started after
traveling on planes. Investigations on the illegally fixed seats showed that these seats are
really uncomfortable and back pains arise on passengers seated on them, due to up and down
movements of the plane in the course of the flight (Thomas & Burgess, 2015, p.56). This has
been a major ethical issue, and the right action to redesign the plane seats according to the
expected requirements should be taken.
Another major ethical issue in this sector airline sector is the use of false advertising.
According to a research carried out by (IATA, 2014, p.44)which is famously known as the
International Air Transport Association, some airline companies advertise falsely, especially
in the flight charges. According to this research, passengers in the consumer travelers’
website gave their grievances about this false advertising. One case is pointed out where one
famous airline company advertised that it was offering a trip from Newark to London for
$236. However, after other charges were added, the price rose to $803. Those who had
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Ethics And Ethical Issues In Aviation
booked had no otherwise other than paying an extra amount which they had not planned for.
Prompt action should be taken by such airline companies, and the relevant organization, to
stop the use of such false adverts.
Ethical issues of discrimination have also been evidenced on different occasions. Cases of
some passengers being discriminated on air travel flights have been reported by scholars in
various articles. One of these articles, which were posted in the famous “New York Post” in
November 2012, indicated that one woman (passenger), who was a New York resident, was
denied the right to travel from Hungary to her hometown (Tani, 2017, p.112). According to
the report from this article, the woman was denied an air ticket since she was obese. On seven
different occasions, this passenger was denied the opportunity to travel by air. Involved
airline companies argued that they had no insurance policy which would cover her in the case
of death. Later, the woman died. Interrogations with her husband revealed that the husband
claimed that the death happened because she was denied the opportunity to travel to get
further treatment.
However, despite all these ethical issues, aviation sector still holds a strong sustainability
focus. The sector has committee’s boards which are put in place to ensure that all activities
run well. For example, a licensing program is developed to ensure that all planes are in
accordance to the required standards before they fly.
Additionally, measures have been taken by International Civil Aviation Organization
(ICAO), to reduce noise emissions. This body intervenes in airline companies to check the
performance of engines, which are major emitters of such noise. In the recent years, the noise
emissions have been reduced by 8% (DesJardins & McCall, 2014, p.100).
Sustainability measures have also been taken to increase fuel efficiency. IATA proposes that
planes should use an average of 5.4 liters of fuel for 100km. However, most planes recently
use an average of 4 liters of fuel for 100km.
The major stakeholders in the aviation sector include; the manufacturers of the planes, airport
organizations, aviation sales departments, the tourism department, trade unions among many
others.
Factors that enable aviation to manage business ethics
To effectively manage business ethics, the aviation secure utilizes some factors. To start with,
the sector defines clearly the roles and rules governing each aviation department. By so
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Ethics And Ethical Issues In Aviation
doing, each department is given the opportunity to operate, but within its set limits. When
organizations operate according to the set standards, business ethics are therefore likely to be
followed correctly.
Secondly, the aviation sector conducts seminars, shows, and exhibitions, to educate its
employees in the international business ethics set for aviation sector (Carroll & Buchholtz,
2014, p.220). This helps to equip them with knowledge on what is ethically right or wrong.
Rampant ethical issues can, therefore, be reduced when all the relevant individuals and
organization have knowledge on aviation business ethics.
Thirdly, the aviation sector makes use of ethics related theories and philosophies, to govern
their decision-making process (Hartman et al., 2014, p.89). Idealism is majorly encouraged in
aviation sector on setting business ethics. Idealism deals with representing the ideas,
opinions, suggestions, and views of others rather than an individualized decision making.
Such philosophies equip the workers, managers and other authorities with the ethical
knowledge that is useful in evading ethical issues.
Finally, addressing the ethical problems if groups and individuals, help to maintain business
ethics. When peoples' needs are fully handled, the chances of such people, breaking the
business ethics become low. The aviation sector, therefore, seeks to handle such problems
and needs an involving manner, with an aim of managing business ethics.
Importance of managing business ethics
The management of business ethics has really helped the aviation sector. First of all, this has
helped to improve the working conditions and has brought more positive changes in the
society also. It is through the management of business ethics that children are now no longer
employed in the aviation sector since this is regarded as child labor. The working hours have
also been reduced to ensure that workers get enough time to rest (Weiss, 2014, p.1). Issues of
corruption and discrimination have also been consequently reduced. This makes the global
society better.
Secondly, management of ethics helps to value and support employees (Vasigh & Fleming,
2016, p.50). The success of any sector is majorly bestowed on its workers. Ethics in aviation
helps in supporting workers. They are given incentives and other subsidiary funds that help to
motivate them to work with more dedication. The workers also feel as a part of the bigger
society when their values and grievances are rightly dealt with.
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Ethics And Ethical Issues In Aviation
Additionally, aviation ethics have also helped the aviation sector to maintain a good public
perception (image). Due to adherence to good business ethics, the global public image of the
aviation sector is viewed positively (Trevino & Nelson, 2016, p.210). Air transport is widely
viewed as the most prestigious and comfortable means of transport in the world. Good ethics
in aviation has partially contributed to this perception.
Finally, good and standard code of business ethics helps to make vital decisions in hard and
tough times. When the aviation sector reaches a state of dilemma, where critical decisions
have to be made, the code of ethics serves as a strong tool of reference in making the right
decisions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this report started by stating the main objectives. Each of these objectives has
been achieved through the detailed information above. From this report, it has been noted that
there exist ethical issues in the aviation sector, which should be dealt with, for the smooth
running of the sector. However, the report has also revealed that the sector is averagely
performing well globally. Despite all the detailed information provided above, this report had
one major limitation. To start with, the time allowed for the study was not sufficient enough.
As a result, there was no time to carry out first-hand data collection. Therefore, the data
analyzed for this research majorly came from secondary resources such as books, articles
journals among other academic sources.
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Ethics And Ethical Issues In Aviation
References
Carroll, A. & Buchholtz, A., 2014. Business and society. In Ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder
management. 3rd ed. Washington: Nelson Education. p.220.
DesJardins, J. & McCall, J., 2014. Contemporary issues in business ethics. 1st ed. California: Cengage
Learning.
Ferrell, O. & Fraedrich, J., 2015. Business ethics. In Ethical decision making & cases. 3rd ed. Chicago:
Nelson Education. p.33.
Hartman, L., DesJardins, J. & MacDonald, C., 2014. Business ethics. In Decision making for personal
integrity and social responsibility. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. p.89.
Hoppe, E.e., 2016. Ethical issues in aviation. 1st ed. Nairobi: Routledge.
IATA, 2014. Air passenger market analysis. 1st ed. Montreal: International Air Transport Association.
Shaw, W. & Barry, V., 2015. Moral issues in business. p.67.
Tani, K., 2017. The Morality of Reporting Safety Concerns in Aviation. In In Encyclopedia of
Information Science and Technology. 4th ed. Translated by II. Texas. p.112.
Thomas, V. & Burgess, S., 2015. International Air Transport Association Vision 2050. Report
Assessment, III, p.56.
Trevino, L. & Nelson, K., 2016. Managing business ethics. In Straight talk about how to do it right. 4th
ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons. p.210.
Vasigh, B. & Fleming, K., 2016. Introduction to air transport economics. In from theory to
applications. 2nd ed. Colorado: Routledge. p.50.
Weiss, J., 2014. Business ethics. In A stakeholder and issues management approach. Minnesota:
Berrett-Koehler Publishers. p.1.
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