Term Paper on "Ethical Dimensions of the Charter Airline Industry"

Term Paper 10 pages (2945 words) Sources: 18

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Ethical Dimensions of the Charter Airline Industry

If one watches ads on television for charter vacations, one might get the idea that such jaunts are pure enjoyment, something undertaken without much thought and for relatively little cost -- either monetarily or in any other way. However, this is not the case. All vacation embed complex values and attitudes, reflecting an individual's sense of self, their relative power in the world, their ideas about how they are connected to (or disconnected from) other people in the world, and how their outward behavior both reflects and shapes their inner goals and desires. Of course, most people trying to find the cheapest airfare to Spain are probably not thinking about this, or, if they are, they are unlikely to admit to doing so. but, nonetheless, all of these elements of human behavior and belief lie at the center of the tourist experience and the tourist business. This being so, companies in this sector must act in highly ethical ways.

This is not to imply that companies in other lines of work should not also act as ethically as possible, for of course all companies should maintain the highest standards of practice. However, the tourism industry is an industry that is dealing in a far-more-than-business-as-usual direct way with the very stuff of people's dreams. This requires a very high level indeed of ethical behavior. This paper examines how well charter airline companies meet the ethical challenges of this industry sector -- and in what ways they tend to fail.

Charter airlines are simply airlines that operate outside of regularly scheduled flights and so encompass quite a wide range of possible experiences. A chartered flight might include a group of missionaries traveling from London to Nigeria, a group of diplomats traveling from London to Nigeria, or a group of students traveling from London to Nigeria -- or any three of these traveling from Nigeria to London. However, while there are a range of possible types of flights and travel that can be classified as charter air travel, in general the term refers to relatively cheaper forms of travel that, in exchange for lower fares, require passengers to accept conditions that they might not otherwise accept.

These conditions, on a very basic level, include aspects of travel such as leaving from less-convenient airports or at less-convenient times in smaller planes with fewer amenities. These seem to be relatively straightforward compromises that an individual would make for a vacation, so straightforward in fact that there is no point in even examining them. but, as with everything in the travel industry, there are numerous levels of emotional, ethical, and psychological concerns even with such relatively straightforward conditions.

The first of these is precisely the key condition that is most determinative of charter airlines as an industry: The relatively cheap price. There is a substantial division between individuals who seek travel at the cheapest reasonable price and those who would never consider the possibility of compromising comfort for price. The difference between these two groups is an economic one, certainly, but in this case the economic aspects can be seen as being proxies for political and personal power, providing a more interesting way in which to analyze this sector of the tourism industry.

Two Types of Ethical Concerns

Being rich may mean never having to say that one is sorry in general, but when traveling, being rich means having a wide range of choices of precisely the type that charter airlines tend to take away. In general, businesses can run very efficiently when they have a limited number of options that they have to provide for their customers. (a perfect example of this is, of course, the fast-food franchise.) a company that tries to do only a few things can afford to focus on making its limited processes as efficient and therefore as cheap as possible. An airline that only departs from a few airports can have a much more streamlined process than a company that tries to be all things to all people, with attendant cost savings.

But, of course, there are also attendant savings in terms of the comforts that are offered, and it is in this aspect of the charter airline services that ethical questions arise. These can be divided into two different types of questions. The first are relatively easily dispatched with and can be summarized as essentially contractual in nature: Does the company give to customers what it promises and what they believe themselves to have paid for? In other words, if a charter airline company sells tickets to passages positing that they will have seats on a flight from Airport X to Airport Y at 9:30 on the 15th and they fail to provide enough seats for all of the people who have bought tickets, then this is a clear ethical failing on the part of the company. However, while such a failing would be inconvenient at the very least to the individuals who find themselves without a seat to their desired destination, this can be considered to be a relatively minor lapse in terms of ethics. Most airlines routinely overbook, after all, because inevitably some passengers will fail to turn up, and overbooking is an economic and business decision designed to minimize lost revenue.

There are, however, much more important and fundamental ethical questions that arise in the charter airline industry. Many of these are common to all or to nearly all sectors of the tourism industry; however, this fact does not lessen their importance within this specific corner of the industry. Among these are the fact that tourism, like all forms of capitalism (and indeed arguably like all forms of human activity) consumes resources and creates waste.

Arguably tourism tends to be less discriminate than other categories of business in using (and in over-using) resources and creating waste because much of the appeal of tourism for the consumer is the sense that the ordinary rules that govern their daily lives, such as being thrifty both with their personal resources and those of our planet, are in abeyance (Holden, 2005). Thus arguably tourism has an oversized footprint, a greater impact on the environment both socially and physically than other industries that meet the demands of the same number of even more people. As Holden (2005:186), notes: "It is subsequently possible to view the application of ethics to tourism as a continuation of impact studies, concerned with "what ought to be," in place of "what is."

While there is no standard code of conduct for all tourist industries, of course, there are suggested guidelines such as the following. Not all of these particulars apply to charter airlines per se, although given that charter airline companies may well either also run local tour groups or be closely associated (even to the degree of nepotism) with local tour groups and businesses all of these may apply at times.

Personal appearance and grooming are far from trivial and so should be a core concern. This includes all members of a charter airline company, because such care makes clear to those in the destination country that the company respects them. Such behaviour can also encourage the tourists to show respect for the "locals."

Everyone including both passengers and anyone with whom the staff interacts at the destination location should be treated with equal respect. This requires all staff to perform in an ethical manner in all aspects of their interactions with any member of the public.

The staff should answer all questions courteously and accurately. This touches on the ways in which the company fulfils its contractual obligations to its customers as well as to any other individuals who interact with the company. Also, the company should take care not to give out misleading or untrue information.

Charter airline staff members must strive to create a professional relationship with the tourists, who are there to have their needs met. Tourism is a business even more than others that requires the consumers to be allowed to overlook the work that is required to allow them to have a good time. Charter airlines staff must be able to make the whole process look natural and easy and not let the effort show to their consumers and customers.

Make sure that any recommendations that the staff makes have been thoroughly vetted. This applies to charter airline companies when they contract with or own local businesses that they give their imprimateur to and so lull their customers' doubts or questions in to submission.

Warn passengers about dangerous or simply unsavoury areas that they should take caution in visiting. Charter airline companies must make sure that they do everything possible to keep their passengers physically an legally safe not only by avoiding dangerous situations but by explicitly helping them to recognize and steer clear of such situations on their own.

Do not force passengers to stop at businesses that are providing a kick-back to the carter airline company. This can include selling… READ MORE

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