Air travel produces about three percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. The air travel industry requires an enduring vision that focuses on sustainable practices in the entire aviation sector, which will be a significant aspect of the future of civil aviation. The study adopts a systematic review to portray significant challenges, issues, and best practices in the worldwide aviation industry, highlighting the Indian scenario to establish future exploration in India. The chapter extensively investigates the latest sustainable developments in the airline business, the logical agreement on its ecological effects, and steps taken for sustainability.
TopSustainability In Aviation Industry
Sustainable development did not gain any recognition until a German tax accountant and mining administrator Hans Carl von Carlowitz, laid its groundwork in his book Sylvicultura Oeconomica in 1713. He poignantly argued the philosophy of short-term financial gains in managing primary resources about wood. This concept gained importance in the late 20th century when the depletion of natural resources became alarming due to rapid economic growth. The first report on environmental concerns came into being by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 1951. It aimed at bridging the gap between economy and ecology for a sustainable future.
Another significant report on the foundation of policies for sustainable development was The Limits of Growth evolved in the think tank of the Club of Rome in 1972. It highlighted the finiteness of natural resources, which is exhausting rapidly with population growth. Owing to the need of the hour, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was formed at the 1972 Stockholm Conference. The most well-known definition of sustainability comes from the 1987 Brundtland Commission report by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) called Our Common Future as “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Jarvie, 2016).
Sustainability works on our lives’ nature, secure our environment, and conserves regular assets of people for the future. Sustainable aviation is a system that sets out the aggregate methodology to handle the test of guaranteeing a cleaner, calmer, and brighter future by establishing comprehensive practices from assembling to operations to client care. Becoming environmentally viable and feasible is not just easy for the aviation sector. Improving a sustainable flying mode is essential for airlines, passengers, and the planet. Multiple tactics are followed by airlines of all sizes to reduce fuel consumption to carbon emissions. Most airlines are currently working with their regular operational flights by utilizing alternative fuel options. Nonetheless, the accessibility of biofuel feedstock stays a significant hindrance to inevitable use.
There are three types of sustainability pillars: the environmental, social, and economic pillars (Purvis et al., 2019). In the environmental aspect of sustainability, organizations focus on decreasing their carbon impressions, bundling waste, water utilization, and their general impact on the climate. They helpfully affect the planet and can likewise have a favorable monetary effect. Social paradigms reflect that a reasonable share of the business needs to be kept aside for helping and endorsement of its workers, partners, and the local area it works in. The ways to deal with getting and keeping up with this help are different.