What is it about?
Aviation’s shift toward sustainability involves many stakeholder groups who often disagree about what matters most. By examining 781 documents, this study identifies the main issues they debate, such as new technologies, business models, long-term planning, and public engagement. These patterns show where progress is happening and where hidden disagreements may slow the transition to cleaner and safer aviation.
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Why is it important?
Aviation faces mounting pressure to reduce emissions while maintaining safety, affordability, and global connectivity. Yet progress is often slowed not by a lack of technology, but by disagreement among stakeholders about which priorities should come first. This study is timely because it moves beyond technical performance metrics to systematically examine the social, regulatory, and organizational tensions shaping aviation’s sustainability transition. By analyzing a large, multi-sector corpus of aviation policy, industry, and academic documents, the research reveals where consensus is emerging and where unresolved disagreements persist. These insights help explain why some sustainability initiatives advance while others stall, and they offer policymakers, industry leaders, and researchers a clearer basis for anticipating risks, aligning stakeholders, and designing more robust transition strategies.
Perspectives
From my perspective, one of the most important takeaways from this work is that sustainability transitions cannot be “engineered” through technology alone. Even when promising solutions exist, progress depends on how competing values, institutional constraints, and public expectations are negotiated over time. This research reflects my broader interest in understanding sustainability as a sociotechnical challenge rather than a purely technical one. By making patterns of agreement and disagreement more visible, I hope this work helps decision-makers move beyond oversimplified narratives and toward more realistic, coordinated approaches to sustainable aviation.
Dr. Robert Edgell
SUNY Polytechnic Institute
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Aviation’s Sustainable Future: Navigating the Sociotechnical Matters of Concern, Journal of Air Transportation, December 2025, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA),
DOI: 10.2514/1.d0573.
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