Is Sustainability In Private Aviation A Myth?
EVP of Marketing and Innovation at VistaJet, board advisor and professor at the International University of Monaco. getty  Read the news these days and you will find a multitude of articles saying that theres no realistic road to sustainability in aviation, so we might as well simply stop flying. On the other hand, there are no real alternatives to traveling long distances efficiently. So the solution must lie in researching all the ways we can change for the better now. We should measure the cumulative effect of all the improvements we can introduce to the current model. We should design a new, more sustainable way to fly. Should you inquire about what others have tried to solve the issue, what worked and what failed, you will often get very vague answers. It is natural to trust our assumptions instead of researching alternatives  thus accepting the status quo as the only possible status. This is why many famous motivational speakers keep reiterating that the only thing stopping us from doing better is doing it. As the executive vice president of marketing and innovation at a private aviation company working toward sustainability goals like carbon neutrality and incorporating sustainable aviation fuel, I tend to agree. And this is why I would like to debunk some myths about sustainability in private aviation. When you're talking to industry professionals about what the future of sustainable aviation could look like, you might hear concerns about the high costs of sustainability and change. Admittedly, in an industry where individual aircraft can cost up to a hundred million dollars, changing the core product is not an easy task  nor a fast one. This means that some are concerned about having to throw everything away and start from scratch. The second point you might hear is that customers dont ask. This might be true for some, but it is even more true if the company never asks the customers. When we engaged with our customers, we realized that most of them did actually care  so much so that they agreed to start with us on a path to more sustainable flying solutions. The risk is that concerns about costs, time and customers reactions might stop some players from seeking new solutions and cause them to simply kick the problem down the road  leaving it for somebody else to solve. As President Biden recently said, we can "take action to build an economy thats not only more prosperous, but healthier, fairer, and cleaner for the entire planet." The good news is that we don't have to think of it as a change we need to make all at once. First rule: start doing something, no matter how small it is. Look at the LVMH initiative to bring unused luxury fabrics and materials back to life by selling them online. Although it might not address the entire fashion industrys carbon footprint, it will likely have an impact. Add to that the goals its rival Kering is pursuing, from reducing its carbon emissions by 50% by 2025 to choosing responsible suppliers, and you start seeing a huge swath of opportunities that could lead to a positive impact on our planet. In the same spirit, lets look at the road ahead for aviation companies by taking it one step at a time:   By adapting our mindsets, lets look at what can be achieved, what competitors are doing and how we can adopt best practices  now.  Evaluate your business model. For aviation, that means jet fuel. Choosing the right partners could have a huge impact if you actively support companies with the same attitude.  Do not fear comparison. Be transparent and open in your communications, accept criticism, prepare to keep changing and be willing to adopt ideas as soon as they become available.  Communicate your sustainability efforts in a humble manner. Never pretend to have all the answers. Be truthful and transparent when sharing your findings and ideas.  Contribute your knowledge: Share your insights and customer understanding in articles (just like I am doing right now), to allow people  your clients, as well as your peers  to build upon them. Lets not stop ourselves by thinking about what cannot yet be done. As business leaders, we all have a lot of power in our hands. We can change the things we create through our choices. We can create change through our investments, our partnerships and our spending. We can create new things entirely. We can lobby for new, fairer and more competitive environments governed by new rules  because if we all play by better rules, I believe we can all move in the best direction for everyone. We can make it a race to zero emissions. And may we all win. Forbes Communications Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies.