Ethical Issues in Collaboration in the Aviation Industry

Abstract

This article examines competitive activity within the airline industry and in its interrelationships with other supplier firms, particularly airports. Competitive activity is reviewed using an ethics-based approach; in particular, it investigates airline–airport relationships, bilateral Air Service Agreements, and airline alliances. Recognizing the economic rationale for such relationships, this article concludes that the first two activities may pose ethical questions in that they could disbenefit key stakeholders of the communities in which they operate. The article concludes with a telos that could underpin a privatized aviation industry operating in a liberalized market environment and at the same time operating in "the public interest."