Management and Employee Perceptions of Fuel Conservation Programs within a U.S. Supplemental Air Carrier

Abstract

As fuel prices continue to remain a major cost factor to air carriers around the world, steps must be taken in order to reduce the amount of jet fuel that a carrier utilizes on a daily basis. Air carriers; therefore, must try to maximize any fuel conservation program that they might have. In order to do this, a better understanding of employee perceptions with regards to these types of programs would be beneficial. The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions that employee groups (operation and maintenance) have about fuel conservation programs utilizing a mixed method approach. A Likert scale based series of questions that was distributed in an anonymous survey gathered quantitative data, while a series of open ended questions gathered qualitative data during the completion of the same survey. Additionally a series of open ended questions was also asked of several members of a fuel conservation committee. Four research questions were identified and utilized in order to better guide the findings of the study using various statistical techniques. This study found that; generally management employees had a positive perception of fuel conservation programs, non-management employees had a slightly less positive perception about the programs, and there was no discernible difference between maintenance and operation employee’s perceptions. Additionally, several trends were identified that indicated their importance in this fuel conservation program: data, ideas, communication, trust and incentive.