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Many commentators have examined the airline industrys impacts on the environment but not the internal management processes used to develop company environmental policies. This paper argues that environmental management tools need to take into consideration the complex, value-laden setting in which corporate environmental policy-making occurs if such tools are to be socially and politically legitimated. A case study of Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) examines an airlines decision-motivations for environmental commitment. An in-depth analysis of the drivers identified by both Scandinavian Airlines and related industry officials shows that attitudes, values and beliefs generated both internally and externally have a critical impact on the airlines environmental policy-making. Although there are numerous influences that drive SASs level of environmental commitment, three motivators are found particularly noteworthy. Firstly, this research demonstrates that eco-efficiencies, in various forms, are a strong motive at SAS. Secondly, Scandinavian culture also plays an influential role in the value SAS puts on the environment at a strategic level. Thirdly, it was found that internal leadership, in the form of environmental champions in senior management positions, played a key role in the positive outcomes of the airlines environmental performance. Given the current growth in benchmarking and eco-labelling activity across tourism, this research enhances understandings about what motivates airlines to develop environmental policy in this increasingly competitive and volatile sector.
Lynes et al. (Wed,) studied this question.