Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Chiambaretto, Paul
• Mayenc, Elodie
• Chappert, Hervé
• Engsig, Juliane
• Fernandez, Anne-Sophie
• Le Roy, Frédéric

Titel

Where does flygskam come from? The role of citizens’ lack of knowledge of the environmental impact of air transport in explaining the development of flight shame

Ist Teil von

• Journal of air transport management, 2021-06, Vol.93, p.102049, Article 102049

Ort / Verlag

Elsevier Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

2021

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• A growing number of citizens are concerned about the environmental impact of air transport, and aviation has become synonymous with high carbon emissions and global warming, which has led to the development of flygskam (or flight shame) in Europe. While its impact on air traffic remains unclear, flight shame has forced the airline industry to react and better understand its origin. In this research, building on the growing literature on industry and organizational stigma, we assume that flight shame can be partly explained by a distorted public perception of the environmental impact of air transport. Accordingly, we investigate the level of knowledge of the environmental footprint of air transport. Based on a sample of 1018 French respondents, we reveal that more than 90% of respondents overestimate the share of air transport in global carbon emissions. We also show that 98% of the respondents underestimate the reduction in carbon emissions per passenger. Finally, we investigate the awareness of the measures taken by the industry to curb its carbon emissions and highlight, for instance, that 70% of respondents overestimate the fuel consumption of the newest generations of aircraft. Based on these results, we draw lessons for airlines and for the air transport industry to help cope with flight shame in Europe. •Flight shame forces airlines to react to the growing concerns regarding the environmental impact of aviation.•The literature on industry and organizational stigma can shed light on the emergence of flight shame.•Flight shame can be partly explained by a distorted public perception of the environmental impact of air transport.•We show that respondents to our survey tend to strongly overestimate the environmental impact of air transport.•We reveal that respondents underestimate the efforts of the air transport industry to reduce its environmental footprint.•We highlight a lack of knowledge of the measures taken by airlines and airports to reduce their carbon emissions.