Airline Sustainability Tool
It is emphasised to the user/reader that there is no universal or correct sustainability calculation tool, this tool is a result of the authors’ views as developed after extensive research and work. The report is the final authority on this sustainability tool and its operation, and the user is encouraged to read the report. It is hoped that by providing the accompanying report in a transparent manner, the methodology used can be followed and understood. This allows the information presented to be interpreted differently or new conclusions to be reached by readers of the report.
Below will guide you through the inputs to the sustainability tool and its outputs.
Note: Some of the inputs may not be able to be filled with the exact information required. This is due to the different reporting definitions used by the airlines. In this event don’t worry too much about finding the correct value, use instead a suitable representative number. For example the “Leases, Parts & Purchases” entry is designed to give an indication of expenditure on the product, a suitable replacement would just be a figure for “Aircraft Purchases”. The main aim of the tool is to show comparisons and trends as opposed to absolute figures. Hence you should always use this tool to generate numbers comparing at least two Airlines.
DOWNLOAD Airline Sustainability Tool Excel Spreadsheet
Input Descriptions
The entries for this tool should be based on the airlines yearly numbers.
Profit: The amount of profit the airline made in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Revenue: The revenue for the year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Fuel Costs: The amount spent on fuel in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Maintenance Costs: The amount spent of maintenance, repair, overhaul etc in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Aircraft purchases, leases and parts: The amount spent on buying or leasing aircraft or aircraft parts in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Marketing spend: The amount spent on marketing, advertising or promotion in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Total spend on compensation: The amount that was spent paying employee salaries.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Total number of employees:
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Total number of passengers: The number of passengers carried in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Total fuel use: The amount of fuel used in Tonnes in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
CO2 emissions: The amount of CO2 emitted in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
Total distance flown: The total Km flown in a year.
Can be found in Annual Reports and Financial Statements.
EU Emissions Trading: Does the airline follow the EU Emissions Trading scheme.
Information can be found on Airline Websites, Aviation news and media.
Average fleet noise level: The average level of noise an airline produces. This measure is based on aircraft type not number. For example an airline operates 20 Boeing 737-700 aircraft; this will be one entry against the 737-700. Then using noise certification data the noise level is averaged for all the different types of aircraft in an airline’s fleet.
Table below displays average noise levels for a selection of common civil aircraft.
| Manufacturer | Aircraft | Code | Noise dB |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Aircraft | Code | Noise dB |
| Boeing | 737-300 | B733 | 90.8 |
| Boeing | 737-400 | B734 | 93.5 |
| Boeing | 737-500 | B735 | 90.7 |
| Boeing | 737-700 | B737 | 91.73 |
| Boeing | 737-800 | B738 | 91.6 |
| Boeing | 737-900 | B739 | 92.2 |
| Boeing | 747-400 | B744 | 100 |
| Boeing | 757-200 | B752 | 93.9 |
| Boeing | 757-300 | B753 | 92.9 |
| Boeing | 777-300 | B773 | 97.2 |
| Boeing | 737-900ER | B739E | 92.7 |
| Boeing | 767-300ER | B763E | 95.8 |
| Boeing | 777-200LR | B772L | 96.9 |
| Boeing | 777-300ER | B773E | 97.3 |
| Airbus | A318 | A318 | 93 |
| Airbus | A319 | A319 | 93 |
| Airbus | A320 | A320 | 93 |
| Airbus | A321 | A321 | 93 |
| Airbus | A330-200 | A330-200 | 95 |
| Airbus | A330-300 | A330-300 | 94.9 |
| Airbus | A340-300 | A340-300 | 96.2 |
| Airbus | A340-600 | A340-600 | 97 |
| Airbus | A380-800 | A380-800 | 95.7 |
| Embraer | E190 | E190 | 85.6 |
| Embraer | ERJ 145ER | ERJ 145ER | 86.1 |
| Embraer | ERJ 145LR | ERJ 145LR | 86.1 |
| Bombardier | DHC - 8 Q400 | DHC - 8 Q400 | 85.2 |
| BAe | RJ85 | RJ85 | 90.6 |
An airline has 5 747-400s, 20 A319s and 15 737-800s. So the fleet average would be the average of 100, 93 and 91.6 dB.
Noise data found here.
Number of accidents: Is the number of accidents per million departures.
Information can be found from multiple sources, including official regulatory bodies such as FAA or CAA. One particular resource can be found here.
On-time percentage: The percentage of aircraft arriving/departing on time. Information can be found for US carries from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, or from online databases e.g. flightstats.
Spend on US lobbyists: The amount of money spent on lobbying Congress in the United States. This is not restricted to American companies, since foreign airlines also lobby Congress. All lobbying spend above $5,000 must be declared, this information is logged with the Office of the Clerk. Example, UAL Corporation (Parent Company of United Airlines).
Number of destinations offered: This is the number of destinations that are offered by the airline. Ensure that this does not include any code share or alliance destinations. Information can be found on Airline Websites, Aviation news and media.
Average fleet age: The average age of the aircraft operated by the airline. Fleet information can be found on Airline Websites, Aviation news and media.
Airline ranking score: The star rating given to an airline from Skytrax.
