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Sustainable careers for those with a sustainability mindset

Aviation sustainability is arguably the biggest topic in the industry at present, but what are the career prospects for job seekers in this area? Bernie Baldwin learns from some key stakeholders.

1 March 2023 10 min read

Anyone attending any briefing or press conference during the 2022 Farnborough Air Show could not possibly have missed the word of the week – sustainability. Yes, after many years of aviation being defensive about its environmental impact, there is now a unified drive not just to make the industry greener – but to demonstrate that to the world.

To deliver on the vast number of aviation sustainability initiatives, however, means an awful lot of work, which consequently needs people to carry them out. It’s therefore fair to expect opportunities for interesting roles to help develop sustainable aviation and, ultimately, fulfilling careers too.

“This is definitely a topic where attention is growing within airlines,” confirms Sebastian Mikosz, senior vice-president, Environment and Sustainability for IATA (International Air Transport Association). “I see continuous announcements of new appointments of people who take environment and sustainability under their umbrella. There is continuous recruitment and my team is a very good example. 

“We started as a spinoff from external relations with nine people and now we’re 30. It’s because the topics are growing,” he continues. “It's not only about decarbonisation – the big elephant in the room – as we have a lot of people now looking after noise, plastic and ESG (environmental, social and governance), because the fact that you decarbonise has to be reported. We also have people looking after hydrogen and alternative propulsion”. 

“My message is that there are a lot of opportunities, but they are pretty technical jobs,” Mikosz advises. “There is also, however, a false perception that these are jobs you can step into and learn in the process. Sustainability is pretty technical, so you need a technical or regulatory background; Corsia, for example, is very much regulatory. Plus, you have to know carbon markets and regulations.”

<img alt="Photography courtsey of IATA [square]" src="/getasset/dd3deeb1-b79e-4f14-82e3-653335d6c714/" />

Photography courtesy of IATA.

The SVP notes that sustainability is not exclusive to one area of an airline, with one department “doing sustainability” while nobody else does. “It's parallel to regular work. The most accurate comparison for airlines is that it's exactly like safety. No single unit of an airline does safety in a vacuum, everyone is in charge of safety in some way. Of course, you've got to have some people who lead and help to define what everybody else in the company can do. But everyone, as with safety, actually works with sustainability in mind,” he emphasises. This is something that, like maintenance, is not competitive. It's not like the marketing side of airlines where it's very competitive.”

One of the airlines to put sustainability front and centre in its daily operations is easyJet. The carrier sees it as a holistic issue, and in backing up that approach, it recently achieved IATA IEnvA Stage 2 accreditation, making it the first low-cost carrier worldwide to have a fully IATA IEnvA-certified environmental management system (EMS). 

Among the measures that easyJet took to reduce its environmental impact were the elimination of more than 36 million single-use plastic items to ensure that as much residual waste as possible is recycled. Meanwhile, discounts were given on hot drinks for customers who brought a reusable cup.

When new crew uniforms were required, the airline had them made from recycled plastic bottles – with 45 bottles going into each uniform – thus creating the potential to prevent 2.7 million such bottles from ending up in landfill or in oceans over five years. 

<img alt="Photography courtsey of EasyJet recycling [square]" src="/getasset/f7387d5f-effe-423d-922f-6ca904f94b79/" />

Photography courtesy of EasyJet.

Sustainability is incorporated in the parameters used for supplier selection, too. For example, when buying for its onboard offerings, easyJet looks for brands who work to keep their use of plastics low. Also, production of food for onboard service has been moved more locally, so the product travels fewer miles to be delivered to the carrier, reducing both parties’ carbon footprints.

As for job opportunities, Jane Ashton, easyJet’s director of sustainability, confirms that the topic will undoubtedly form an element of all roles in the airline and aviation eco-system. “This won’t be limited to sustainability teams or specialists, as the journey to net zero is cross-functional,” she explains.

“At easyJet, this has ranged from finding innovative solutions to reduce waste, to implementing operational improvements in the way we fly our aircraft to further reduce our carbon emissions. Crucially, new energy sources for aviation are expected to ‘fuel’ the job market – the research, development and infrastructure required for transformative solutions like sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or hydrogen will offer a huge range of opportunities,” Ashton asserts.

Airlines are just one segment of air transport where there are job prospects in this field. Every airport in the world also has the task of tackling the discipline. It is an issue which Sarolta Katona, head of sustainability at Budapest Airport (BUD) feels very strongly about.

<img alt="Photography courtsey of Budapest Airport [square]" src="/getasset/beaa315b-5024-45df-9493-3f48090a4f21/" />

Photography courtesy of Budapest Airport.

 

“Ten-to-fifteen years ago, the average person equated the concept of sustainability with climate change and environmental protection, and the workers involved in this – according to much public opinion then – were also fanatical environmentalists who ‘hug trees in their free time’. However, this was not true even then, but a majority of companies only recognised the importance of the topic a few years ago,” Katona recalls.

“Unfortunately, there are still many companies that place little emphasis on various aspects of sustainability, but the aviation industry is trying to catch up very quickly,” she continues. “Working in aviation sustainability is challenging for all actors, as technology changes are extremely slow, development directions are not clear, and the regulatory environment is not always supportive. The aviation sector encompasses many types and sizes of companies, and in addition to the fact that each actor must focus on his own sustainability activities, emphasis must also be placed on cooperation due to close interdependence. For this currently-polluting industry to remain sustainable in the long term, a partnership relationship is needed between the actors and dedicated, persistent professionals who can do something for the transition.

“Why the long guide?” Katona remarks. “Because to understand the recruitment opportunities in aviation sustainability, we need to see how complex this industry is. There are several job opportunities in the field of sustainability. 

“Among the central roles is the specialist who is able to create a sustainability strategy and manage its implementation. In addition, there is a need for environmental specialists, as, for example, in the case of an airport, environmental protection is still the most relevant pillar of sustainability,” she adds. “In the technical fields, the existence of professionals with a sustainability approach and appropriate technical knowledge is becoming more and more important. 

“To mention just a few airport examples, energy efficiency, airport development projects, construction, C&D waste management, transition to renewable energy sources are all prominent topics in the life of an airport,” Katona comments.

“The social pillar can be supported by HR specialists, but in addition to employee well-being and internal awareness raising, the job role for broad social well-being also requires different abilities and skills. Proper communication is essential, supported by a communication expert who is sensitive to the topic. The trend of the last few years is that investors and stakeholders want to obtain more and more transparent information about the sustainability activities of companies, and their interest turns to companies that perform better in this field. It has become more important for the aviation sector to prove that they are indeed able to operate in a sustainable manner and that they are actively working for the transition. 

“Overall, I see that new jobs have appeared in the field of sustainability, but there is a need for professionals with this approach in every organisational unit of the company,” Katona states, echoing Mikosz’s earlier argument. “Sustainability specialists must act as a central engine to encourage the transition of the specialised fields, which also requires that they are aware of aviation processes, trends, connections, and partnerships.”

Regarding recruitment, Katona reports currently experiencing the trend of increasing numbers of applicants for sustainability positions, but argues that there must also be a high degree of learning potential. “That’s because a professional who is familiar with both sustainability and the aviation business is not common. At the same time, in various technical, support areas (IT, finance, procurement, HR, communications) and professional fields, the need for the applicant to have a sustainability perspective has become essential, but this is not only a characteristic of aviation,” she observes.

For those aiming for a long-term career as a sustainability specialist working in the aviation sector, the BUD executive, offers this counsel. “It's a long-term job with lifelong learning need, as the green transition for the aviation sector can be very bumpy, challenging, and slow,” Katona pronounces.

There are clearly many opportunities in aviation sustainability arising across the industry, but as those at the sharp end note, the topic must be part of a candidate’s mindset.

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