Ethical or social responsibility issue related to aviation Research Paper

Ethical or social responsibility issue related to aviation - Research Paper Example The employees are required to comply with the letters of the guidelines as well as the spirit of the guidelines. The formal codes of ethical documents are important in analyzing the different companies and rating them (Hoppe, 2007). The rating is based on the practical implementation of these codes. It is harder than it seems to implement these codes due to the various inherent limitations on a day-to-day basis. Therefore, the aviation industry has guidelines on how the codes will be followed. The codes cover the major issues that the airlines face on a day-to-day basis and need to be addressed constantly. These issues are under different topics depending on different airlines, but can be summarized in three main parts; conflict interest, asset protection and working together. Conflict of interest arises when employees encounter situations where they have to choose between the airline’s interests and their own interests (Hoppe, 2007). Most airlines can pinpoint the various sit uations where conflict of interest may arise, and have guidelines on what actions the employees should take when such situations arise. An example is a situation where an employee receives gifts and rewards from customers, suppliers or other stakeholders in the company for a job done. It is common for some passengers to give stewards gifts for their services in the plane. If the customer enjoys good services while travelling with a certain airline, and feels the urge to reward the company, they are likely to reward the stewards since they are the people with whom they are in direct contact. If the employees accept such gifts, they may compromise their moral obligations to the employer if they feel obliged to meet the gift givers’ demands instead of the employer’s interests. Most airlines stipulate, in their code of ethics, that the employees should not receive gifts especially when the gifts are excessive or too lavish. Most of the passengers who fly a lot are likely t o be wealthy, and are likely to give expensive gifts. In this case, the employee who receives the reward should talk to the human resource department in the specific airline if they believe that their ethical conduct might be compromised. Another situation occurs when employees request rewards from clients when they realize that they have to work hard in providing services to these clients (Hoppe, 2007). This is in spite of the fact that the employees are employed to provide such services to the clients. The conflict of interest arises because the employees have to choose between asking for these gifts, thereby serving their own interest, or maintaining a good reputation for the airline. Most airlines strictly prohibit seeking rewards from clients. Another situation could be when employees work for a rival airline (Hoppe, 2007).