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The Covid-19 pandemic has hampered the airline industry for a longer period of time than anticipated. After the sector began to recover in 2021, new waves of the virus and new travel restrictions prevented expansion. Despite new scars, this year global air transportation experienced delayed but sustained recovery. In the first months of 2022, global passenger traffic (RPK) recovered to 50% of pre-pandemic levels, but intercontinental traffic has a long way to go. Even beyond the massive disruptions caused by Covid-19, the air industry is poised for significant change. Threats for new pandemics, supply chain issues, staff shortages, decline in business travel, worries about global economy and geopolitical instability, are only a few points of concern. In addition, climate change policies regulatory updates, and technology advancements will likely lead to changes in the manner in which the industry conducts its business.

The concept of environment, society, and governance (ESG) performance is gaining momentum in all business sectors as the global economic system recognises the importance of sustainability. The airline industry has several incentives to apply ESG initiatives and report the related results. The literature has established positive links between noble ESG scores and priority access to funding, better compliance with regulatory requirements, increased customer loyalty, and employee productivity, and improved firm value and financial performance. Although adherence to ESG goals may seem contradictive to tremendous cost reduction pressures posed to airlines due to the covid-19 pandemic, literature also argues that ESG can play a vital role in the post-covid-19 world as ESG can alleviate airlines’ financial risks. The aim of this short paper is to raise awareness among aviation practitioners and policymakers on the importance of ESG application and reporting as a means to strengthen business resilience and mitigate the adverse impact of the covid-19 pandemic and future crises that challenge the airline industry.

Significant changes have taken place at airports due to market liberalization, airport privatization and growing competition. The growing demand and evolving expectations of passengers, require new ways of using technologies, to enhance operational processes and the whole travel experience. The digital era is transforming the aviation industry and has a significant impact on its future. The aim of this study is to assess the benefits of applying digital technologies to airports and airlines and their inseparable connection with innovative services provision to passengers, while it describes how to create a seamless end to end experience at the airport, maintaining a high level of security. Moreover, the study underlines the contribution of digital technologies to aviation industry, focusing on the organizational integration and passenger experience optimization. Reference is made to the pandemic, of COVID-19 and its impact on air travel. Primary research methodology is qualitative, with structured personal interviews, while the main findings indicated that through digital technologies and innovative services, the benefits for airports, airlines and passengers are increasing. Finally, this paper discusses a benefit model approach, based on the literature review and the research findings, that may have theoretical and practical implications.

Air transportation is an essential contributor to the health and well-being of the global economy. Aviation contributes to the quality of life – allowing us to visit friends and relatives, to travel, to experience new places, to shrink the world. Moreover, the aviation industry provides 56 million direct, indirect, and induced jobs worldwide. On the other hand, aviation affects the environment in many ways: people living near airports are exposed to aircraft noise; aircraft engines emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants to the atmosphere; large amounts of energy and water are consumed for the passenger needs and great volumes of waste are produced; streams, rivers, and wetlands may be exposed to pollutants discharged in storm water runoff from airports and many species of plants and animals are expatriated from the vicinity of airports. These negative externalities have been acknowledged during the last decades and the aviation industry is taking mitigation measures at a growing pace. National and international authorities, aviation institutions, aircraft manufacturers, airlines and airports issue advisory documents and manuals, establish environmental standards, apply new technologies and adopt environmental management systems to achieve environmentally-friendly operations in multiple dimensions: noise, air and water quality; energy consumption, waste production and biodiversity preservation. This chapter offers a comprehensive overview of the adverse environmental impact connected with air transportation and the corrective measures adopted by the aviation industry to mitigate this impact.

This paper explores airport business in association with its operational, economic, geographical and regulatory environment. The two-stages methodology engages a post-positivist approach and data triangulation. In the first stage, airport performance (AP) is measured with the tailor-made Airport Business Excellence Model in 137 airports spread over 90 countries. Subsequently, the AP scores are examined vis-a-vis an extensive set of abiotic/externally determined factors, such as ownership, regulation, size, seasonality, hub status, location, economic development, traffic mix and performance management system. The data is first processed with the Kruskall-Wallis non-parametric test to detect statistical differences in AP levels among airport subgroups and the relevant contribution of the abiotic determinants is then investigated by multiple regression analysis. The results indicate that the effectiveness of the regulatory mix is in close connection with second-order charging schemes. Furthermore, low seasonality and an extra-large airport size are positively related to AP, whereas non-hub status, the absence of formal performance management systems and the blending of public and private sectors in mixed ownership/management schemes act in the opposite direction.

This study proposes for the first time the Airport Business Excellence Model (ABEM) as a specific version of the European Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) and tests it in 143 airports worldwide. Based on diverse theoretical premises and applying a Structural Equation Modelling, the study first maps the main Key Performance Areas (KPAs) with their individual indicators and then explores the complex network of causal linkages among them within the multidimensional airport business system. The causal paths are conceptualized in a performance pyramid, where influence flows from the top Strategic Enablers through Human and Operational Enablers to produce Primary and Secondary Results. In addition, Importance Performance Analysis reveals that Employee Results are the most Critical Success Factor for airport excellence, followed by Leadership and Operational Results. Overall, the study sheds light on the airports' ‘black box’ and exhibits the interactions of its ‘software’ assets nested in the multiple airport stakeholders.

In the last decades, aviation industry has expressed an increasing interest in the application of environmental management systems (EMSs). Many scholars have examined the environmental impact of the airports’ operations, but few have studied the management practices used to develop airport environmental policies. This study aims to contribute to academic and managerial knowledge by exploring and evaluating the application of EMS in the largest Greek airport, namely Athens International Airport (AIA). To achieve this goal, a qualitative case study was conducted in every dimension and aspect of AIA’s Environmental Management System. Subsequently, a new Airport Environmental Performance Model (AEP) was built combining the case study results with the most common benchmarking models proposed in the literature. This research enhances the understanding about the airport environmental management and offers best-practice insights to scholars and aviation professionals altogether, proposing the new AEP.

The aim of this study is to map the interrelations among Human Resource Management (HRM) austerity practices, work deterioration and safety and security risks in commercial aviation, during the 2008-–2016 economic crisis in Europe. We initially deployed an online survey among 120 aviation employees from 40 airports located in 22 European countries. An Economic Crisis Index (ECI) was created for each country, combining the macroeconomic figures during the economic crisis. The results of the survey establish a positive correlation between escalating ECI and the four study constructs and detected statistical differences in particular safety and security variables among the sample groups. Subsequently, semi-structured interviews with 23 aviation experts from the survey sample were conducted to explore in depth the reported changes in working conditions and aviation safety. The research model was then tested using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), confirming that austerity HRM practices indirectly increase safety and security risks through the mediation of the deteriorated working environment. The results of this study highlight the importance of human factors in the technically dominated area of aviation safety and suggest that safety and security should be addressed under a more systemic approach. These findings forewarn of the cost-minimizing policies currently dominating commercial air transport and their adverse safety and security implications, drawing the attention on new and emerging threats such as pandemics that were underestimated until recently.

This study investigates the austerity HRM practices implemented in European airports during the economic crisis, the subsequent deterioration of working conditions and possible recovery policies. The survey results indicate that austerity HRM practices, especially work flexibility, increased workload and workplace discrimination, are strongly and positively correlated with work deterioration. Moreover, the impact of the crisis is not homogeneous across airports, since public airports and those located in South European regions and in countries displaying a high Economic Crisis Index suffer the most. Notwithstanding, a combination of micro-, meso- and macro-policies has the potential to alleviate the detrimental effects of the crisis on airport workplaces.

The study aims to investigate the change in the habits of Super Market consumers regarding the realization of purchases from a distance, after the announcement of the measures for the protection of the citizens from the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Specifically, the article examines the attitude of Greek Super Market consumers towards distance shopping (on line or telephone sales), before and during the pandemic. The choice of this country is important given that the Super Market online stores in Greece are under development and the appearance of COVID-19 is expected to expand the sales channels (multichannel distribution) directly affecting the profitability of the specific sector. From the processing of the questionnaires of 230 customers who were asked before and during the pandemic, it emerged that a sharp change in social living conditions can significantly affect the selected consumer market channel.

The purpose of this working paper is to describe the development of a business excellence model specifically adjusted to the unique characteristics of the complicated airport sector. Airport Business Excellence Model (ABEM) has emerged from the basic concept of the EFQM Excellence Model, extending and customizing the generic model to form a holistic framework for airport total performance assessment and benchmarking. ABEM is currently under test application on an international airport sample in 39 countries.