Analysis Of Sustainability Issues Related To Emission Control In The Airline Industry - Qatar Airways Essay.

Discuss about the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Conference.

The report helps in analysis of the sustainability issues that is related to controlling of the emission in the airline industries. The airways that has been taken in the respective report is Qatar Airways and analysis is required to be done that will help in analysing and identifying the issues effectively (Loorbach and Wijsman 2013). Proper research is required to be done as this will assist in focusing on the controlling of the emission that is caused to the airline companies (Murrieta-Mendoza, Botez and Ford 2014). The critical evaluation of the strategy of sustainability along with implementations has to be addressed effectively.

The main objective and resolution of the report is the identification of the different kind of key approaches along with analysis of the principles of sustainability in relation to the global issue emission control in the airline industry respectively. Proper evaluation and development of the key strategies have to be implemented by the respective airways named Qatar Airways to reduce the emission caused by them and solve the issues in an effectual manner. Proper identification of the different kind of major conflicts and innovative actions will be described that will help the company in reducing the respective issue of emissions caused due to the fossil fuel combustion in the airways sector.

The structure of the report includes the analysis of the sustainability issue that is caused by the Qatar Airways. Proper emphasis has to be provided on the key approaches and principles of sustainability as this will evaluating the implications of the global issue for the business along with the environment as well. The investigation has to be done effectively on the different stakeholder analysis with the development of the strategies of sustainability for the respective organization. Proper recommendations have to be provided in an appropriate manner that will help in improving the respective scenario and solve the issues effectually as well.

Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C is operating as the Qatar Airways and it is headquartered in Airways tower in Doha that is linked with more than 145 international destinations across Central Asia, Europe, and South Asia along with North America. There are more than 24,000 employees wherein the fleet size is 214 and it was commenced in the year 1994 in the month of January 1993 (www.qatarairways.com 2018). However, in the recent time, they are facing different organizational and business challenges. One of the major challenges for them is the emission control legislations being introduced by the governments in different countries and the international regulatory bodies. Though, the objective of the emission control regulations is having positive impact on the entire ecosystem of the airline industry but it is causing challenges for Qatar Airways in their business operation. This is due to the reason that they have to face more diverse legislations and added cost.

Qatar Airways

One of the major impacts of the carbon emission in the society is the degradation of the human health. This is due to the reason carbon emission will cause increase in the global warming. Global warming will cause increase in the average temperature of the earth, which lead to the health concerns for the human beings (West et al. 2013). Different types of skin diseases and respiratory problems will get emerged. It will become for difficult of the human beings to survive in the challenging weather and climate condition.

Increase in the rate of carbon emission will have huge adverse impact on the environment. One of the major impacts is the increase in the average temperature. This will cause extinction of different flora and fauna species. In addition, carbon emission and increase in the average temperature will also reduce the agricultural productivity in the long term. Origination of the carbon emission especially the carbon monoxide contributes in depleting the ozone layers. This caused inflow of the harmful solar rays through the atmosphere.

The more will be the carbon emission, the more will be the negative impact on the economy. This is due to the reason that agriculture production will get reduced and this will negatively impact the economy of the countries. Moreover, due to having extreme weather condition, the productivity of the population will also get reduced (Panayotou 2016). This will also reduce the average income of the economy.

The current global ecosystem and state of affairs are dealing with different challenges and the environment issue is the major one. Environmental issues such as climate change and degradation are negatively impacting each and every institutions and every individual. In the current time, there are various sources emerged around the word, which are contributing in increasing the rate of carbon emission (Hoen et al. 2014). One of the major sources of carbon emission is the transportation including the airways. Huge consumption of the fossil fuels by the transportation sector is causing carbon emission in huge intensity.

According to the above data, it is seen that transportation is the second highest contributor in carbon emission in the global scenario. In addition, it is showing increasing trend and thus it can be concluded that contribution from the global transportation sector in relation to the carbon emission will get further increased in the following years. It should also be noted that air transportation is also included in the global transportation system. Air transportation is the largest contributor among all the available mode of transportation due to the reason that the rate of consuming fossil fuels is quite higher for the airways compared to other conventional mode of transportation (Cristea et al. 2013).

Impact of Carbon Emission

The above data shows that carbon emission from the fossil fuel is increasing rapidly and this is mainly due to the reason that transportation sector is growing at the similar rate. The more growth of the transportation will lead to the increase in the demand for fossil fuels. Therefore, the emission from burning fossil fuels will also is getting increased.

In the last decade, developed western economies are the major contributors of carbon emission due to their more market demands. However, the recent time is witnessing the growth of the developing economies and the Gulf nations in carbon emission map. This is mainly due to the reason that developing nations are showing more economic growth compared to the developed nations and on the other hand, Gulf nations are developing rapidly due to their access to the oil reserves (Shahbaz et al. 2013). In accordance to this situation, the above figure is showing the increasing trend of carbon emission from the Gulf nations.

Thus, after the discussion of the origination of the carbon emission, the intensity of it in the current time can be assumed. However, the identified issue is not having negative impact on the environment but also on other stakeholders including the airliners. It is becoming more difficult and complex situation for the airline industries to deal with this issue along with adhering to the stringent legislations and regulations introduced. On the other hand, Qatar airways should also be sustainable enough in order to deal with the issue of carbon emission and also to create positive image in the market.

The issue of carbon emission for Qatar airways is involving different stakeholders including the organization itself. The major internal stakeholders for Qatar airways are the employees and higher level management. On the other hand, external stakeholders include the government, suppliers, customers and the entre global population.

Employees are considered as the major stakeholders in the issue of carbon emission due to the reason that implementation of carbon tax by different countries. Carbon tax is levied on the business organizations according to their carbon emission (Meng, Siriwardana and McNeill 2013). Thus, in the case of Qatar Airways, the rate of emission is higher due to their international and long haul routes. Thus, the rate of carbon tax will also be more for Qatar airways, which will affect the employee management. This is due to the reason that the Qatar airways cannot increase their fare to adjust with the carbon tax. Thus, this will lead to the reduction in the facilities, benefits and perquisites for the employees.

Origination of Carbon Emission

Upper level management of Qatar airways is also a major stakeholder in the issue of carbon emission. This is due to the reason that they will decide about the mitigation process of the issue. Moreover, the intensity of the issue of carbon emission will determine the sustainability of the organization. Thus, the effectiveness of the upper level management will ensure that emission control will get effectively fulfilled.

Government can also be treated as a major stakeholder in the issue of carbon emission and emission control. This is due to the reason that government is responsible to introduce the legislations for the business organizations (He et al. 2015). It is up to the government about how to tackle with the issue of carbon emission. The effectiveness and intensity of the measures by the government will determine how business organizations are following the carbon control policies. Suppliers are also considered as the stakeholder in the ongoing issue of carbon emission. This is due to the reason that suppliers for Qatar airways include the aircraft manufacturers such as Boeing and Airbus. They are responsible for manufacturing fuel efficient aircrafts that will emit less carbon.

There are various researches are being done on the implications and future of carbon emission. Reviewing these theories will help to understand the intensity of carbon emission along with the impact of legislations and regulations on it. According to Grote, Williams and Preston (2014), civil aviation sector is one of the major contributors of carbon emission in the current global scenario. Moreover, it was also discussed that the rate of contribution of the civil aviation in carbon emission will further get increased in the future due to the increase in the demand. According to the authors, airliners in the global scenario consume more than 5 million barrels of fossil fuels per day on an average basis. Thus, the more will be the demand for the aviation sector, the more will be the flights and demand for fuels. This will in turn increase the rate of carbon emission by means of burning fossil fuel.

However, on the other hand, the authors have also stated about some of the challenges that may get emerged in initiating the mitigating processes for carbon emission. One of the major challenges being identified is the resistance from the associated stakeholders. This is due to the reason that in order to reduce the rate of carbon emission from the civil aviation, the demand for air travel should also be reduced. Thus, reduction of the air travel will not get supported by the related stakeholders. Hence, according to the authors, it is difficult for the airliners such as Qatar Airways to overcome the issue of carbon emission.

Stakeholder Analysis

Though the impact of the carbon emission is more in climate and environment but it is also having different and diverse impact on the business organizations. One of the major impacts of the carbon emission for business organizations is the change in business environment. According to Matsumura, Prakash and Vera-Munoz (2013), carbon emission may not have direct impact on the business organizations, but it will have indirect impact such as creating unfavourable business environment. For instance, Qatar airways will find it tough to operate in the airline industry if they do have favourable weather and climate for their operation. They will also not have enough passengers if the air travel becomes more unsafe due to the change in the weather and climate. Thus, according to the authors, it is also important for the airliner industry to have effective policies and strategies in mitigating the issue of carbon emission.

The authors have also discussed about another issue that will be faced by the business organizations from the carbon emission. This issue is the brand image in the market. In the current time, especially in the airliner market, brand image is important in order to stay and survive in the competition. Thus, if Qatar airways can have effective policies of sustainability and carbon control, then it will create ethical brand image about them in the market. The current generation of environment conscious customers will get more attracted with this. However, on the other hand, not controlling carbon emission will cause Qatar airways to have negative brand image in the market.

The previous sections have discussed about the impacts of carbon emission and the importance to mitigate it. However, some other authors have discussed about the limitations and the challenges in mitigating the issue of carbon emission. According to Schandl, Hatfield-Dodds, Wiedmann, Geschke, Cai, West, Newth, Baynes, Lenzen and Owen (2016), carbon emission is having direct relationship with that of the economic growth. This is due to the reason that the more will be the economic growth, the more will be the gross development and the more will be the carbon emission. The authors have also stated that reduction of the carbon emission will direct affect the economic growth of the countries. Thus, it not possible to stall the process of economic development and thus mitigating the issue of carbon emission will also face hindrances.

For instance, Middle Eastern regions are showing growth in terms of carbon emission, which was previously led by the developed and western countries. This is due to the fact that Middle Eastern regions are going through massive development phases and it is causing increase in the carbon emission. Therefore, according to the authors, mitigating or reducing the emergence of carbon emission will have direct impact on the economic growth of the Middle Eastern countries and this will met with huge resistances from different stakeholders. It can be concluded that rather than mitigate the issue entirely, it is important to have more sustainable options to overcome the issue without compromising on the economic development.

Implications of Emissions Control

There are various implications of carbon emission for the business organizations especially for the airliner industry. The implications will be discussed from different point of views.

Business risk will be more for the Qatar airways due to the reason the more will be the carbon emission, the more challenging it will be for them to operate. Carbon emission will cause harsh weather and climate condition. This will also lead to the increase in the natural calamities. Thus, it will be difficult for Qatar airways to have favourable business environment. Both their internal and external stakeholders will be more vulnerable towards the climate change due to the increase in carbon emission. On the other hand, initiation of the emission control will also have negative impact on Qatar airways (Yoon and Jeong 2016). This is due to the reason that emission control policies will cause added cost for them. This added cost will increase the cost of operation and their profitability will get reduced.

Qatar airways will face customer turnover from the issue of carbon emission and by initiating emission control mechanism. This is due to the fact that in the current market scenario, carbon footprint of the business organizations determines the brand image and attractiveness in the market. Thus, issue of carbon emission will create negative brand image for Qatar airways in the market and it will get difficult for them to attract new customers (Shafiee et al. 2014). On the other hand, initiating emission control mechanism will cause increase in fare for the customers. They have to pay more in order to compensate the increased cost of operation for Qatar airways. Thus, the more will be the service cost, the less will be the attractiveness of the service among the target customers. This will also take a toll in the sales revenue for Qatar airways.

With the increase in the rate of carbon emission, more stringent regulations are being initiated by the regulatory bodies for the business organizations. Some of the regulations are the implementation of the carbon tax and disclosure of the carbon footprint (Bae Choi, Lee and Psaros 2013). In addition, more carbon emission also restricts the business operation in different countries and regions. Thus, Qatar airways will face this issue of stringent regulations and will face difficulties in adhering to these. Initiation of the emission control policies also reducing the rate of production of non renewable fossil fuels (Hook and Tang 2013). Thus, it will be difficult for Qatar airways to source the fuels for their aircrafts and in increased cost.

Strategies for Sustainability

As discussed earlier, added cost in case of the carbon control mechanisms will reduce the profitability of Qatar airways due to the reason that the added cost of sustainability strategy for them will reduce their gross profit. Thus, Qatar airways will have less access to the capital for further investments (Weber 2013). They will not be able to expand in new regions due to lack of funds. Therefore, the competitiveness of Qatar airways will also get reduced from the initiation of the carbon control policies.

Qatar airways initiate different strategies in relation to the sustainability. One of the major and most effective sustainable strategies of them is having the membership of Sustainable Aviation Fuel Users Group (Hari, Yaakob and Binitha 2015). This helps them to extensively use and promote sustainable and alternate aviation fuel. It also enables Qatar airways to further develop sustainable fuel sectors. Qatar airways uses a partial bio fuel in their aircrafts, which further reduced their cost of jet fuel as well as reducing the impact of carbon emission (Wang and Tao 2016).

Another sustainable strategy for Qatar airways is always upgrading their aircrafts. According to the reports, Qatar airways are having only the latest aircrafts in their portfolio and currently more than 200 new aircrafts are in order. The major objective of the behind having latest aircrafts in place is to have more fuel efficient and energy saving machines (Wheeler and Bozhko 2014). With having the latest aircrafts in place, it is easier for Qatar airways to have more sustainable air travel mechanism. It also helps them to have less carbon emission compared to their competitors (Grote, Williams and Preston 2014). Having latest aircrafts is helping them to reduce the cost of operation due to have latest technologies such as winglets.

Qatar airways are having collaboration with IATA and AACO in developing global sustainable policies in managing the greenhouse gas emissions. This includes initiation of different testing processes in order to save more fuel and reduce carbon emission (Noh et al. 2015). They have also initiated the strategy of recycle and reuse, which helps them to reduce the generation of waste from their business operation and have more alternate sources of energy. Qatar airways also uses majority of the wide body and large aircrafts in order to have lower carbon footprint per customer (Jin, Cao and Sun 2013). This is due to the reason that the more passengers will get accommodated in a single aircraft, the less will be the carbon emission per passenger.

Major Conflicts and Innovative Actions

According to the Qatar airways, carbon emission also generated from ground vehicles used in the airport operation. Thus, they are initiating the use of electric and hybrid technology in the ground operation vehicles. This helps them in reducing the cost of operating the ground vehicles and reducing the carbon emission from the process. Qatar airways also have sustainable approach in dealing with the issue of carbon emission in the airport. Hamad international airport is the base airport for Qatar airways and various sustainable initiatives are being initiated in order reduce the carbon emission from the airport operation (Monsalud and Rakas 2015). They have achieved LEED certification for Hamad international airport. In addition, non renewable sources of energy are being widely used in the airport operation (Cole and Jose Valdebenito 2013).

It is recommended that Qatar airways should also be involved in the sustainability. This is due to the reason that Qatar airways provide hospitality services to their customers and they should get involved in the initiation of the sustainable process also. Customers should be made aware about the sustainable approach taken by the organization and they should also be given training about how to promote sustainability. For instance, passengers should be made aware about the generation of waste in their air travel and they should know about the importance of generating less waste. This will have dual benefits for Qatar airways. One of the benefits will be initiation of the sustainable activities along with covering the passengers also and the other benefit is the generation of the positive word of mouth in the market. The more customers will get involved in the sustainable process, the more will be the goodwill and brand reputation in the market for Qatar airways.

It is also recommended that Qatar airways should have their own research and development wing for developing alternative jet fuel and other strategies to reduce carbon emission. Qatar airways are having financial stability and it will help them to have a separate wing for research and development. This will also enable them to use more alternate methods in their operations and reduce the cost of their operation. For instance, using of more alternate fuels will ensure that Qatar airways will have less cost incurred in using fossil fuel. Thus, having the separate wing of research and development will help them in gaining competitive advantages in the market.

It is also recommended to Qatar airways that they should use more wide body aircrafts in their flight operation. This is due to the reason that using of more wide body aircrafts will ensure that carbon emission per customer will be less and it will also help to transport more number of passengers at a single go. Thus, the fossil fuels will less get burned. For instance, Airbus A380 can transport passengers double of Boeing 747 aircraft. Thus, the average cost of transporting the passengers will get reduced. On the other hand, it is also recommended that Qatar airways should increase the use of latest fuel efficient narrow body aircrafts such as Airbus A320 Neo. According to the reports, these aircrafts consumes less than 20 percent of fuels compared to other conventional aircrafts. Thus, Qatar airways should use these narrow body aircrafts for the shorter haul flights.

Conclusion

A separate training should be initiated for the employees of the Qatar airways in order to equip them with the sustainable approaches. In addition, employees are the touch points between the organization and the customers. Thus, initiation of the training program for the employees will ensure that they will be able to communicate with the passengers about the importance of sustainability and will implement the sustainable approach in the practical situation.

Conclusion

Thus, from the above discussion, it can be concluded that sustainability is one of the major factors to be considered by the contemporary business organizations in the current business scenario. This essay discussed about the sustainability issue from the perspective of Qatar airways. Carbon emission is identified as the major global sustainability issue faced by Qatar airways in the recent time. This essay discussed about the impact of carbon emission on different aspects of the global scenario and how they are impacting the business operation of Qatar airways. It is identified that emergence of carbon emission will have negative implications on the business operation of Qatar airways in the long term. Moreover, this essay also discussed about the impact of the carbon emission and carbon control policies in the airliner industry. Effectiveness of the carbon control policies in mitigating the issue of carbon emission are also being discussed in this essay. It is also identified in this essay that Qatar airways are already having different and extensive sustainable policies in their global business operation. However, this essay have discussed about some recommended steps that will help the in further enhancing their sustainable practices.

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