Sustainable aviation after COVID-19: will technology save all, or a more radical change is required?

Resumo

The crisis generated by the COVID-19 outbreak has been the most intense and long-lasting in the history of aviation. The recovery pathway requires aviation stakeholders to balance short-term volatility with long-term interlinkages between the socioeconomic impact of aviation and climate change. Key industry actors have started aligning their efforts to achieve a more sustainable sector. The industry considers technology the primary tool for its transformation, but literature has shown that traffic growth offsets technology improvements if no demand management is considered. The uncertain technology pathway presents then challenges for airlines, as well as for society and climate change. Against this background, we assess the role of supply (airlines), demand (passenger behaviour), and regulators in the post-COVID-19 era. We identify these actors’ behavioural changes and whether they will bring aviation activity into a truly sustainable path. We close the chapter by identifying further research areas essential to monitoring this pathway.