CASE STUDY ( RYAN AIR ) ( EASY JET) - Essay Example

CASE STUDY (RYAN AIR) (EASY JET) Evaluation of the Silent & Shadow Accounts of Ryan Air and Easy Jet A crucial element of the airline industry is acting responsibly towards its passengers and the environment as a whole. The air line industry is exposed to strict safety regulations, nevertheless a large number of airlines have initiated the coverage of their corporate sustainability very recently. In context of the airline industry, it is imperative that the reporting of corporate sustainability comprise of environmental, economic, social as well as corporate governance information.

For the accomplishment of this study, the shadow as well as silent accounts of Ryan Air was critically assessed and then compared to that of Easy Jet. There are major disparities in the reporting practices as well as focus between Ryan Air and Easy Jet. It was observed that Ryan Air does not issue a separate Corporate Sustainability Report and instead provides its corporate governance, social and environmental data in its annual financial reports. On the other hand, Easy Jet issues separate corporate and social responsibility report.

The key findings from the assessment of the accounts have been discussed as follows: The silent reports of Ryan Air cover the sections of human resource development, their appropriate training, and employee remunerations among others (Ryan Air, 2011, p. 100). However, the assessment of the shadow accounts in this context reveals that there exists certain level of employee dissatisfaction as the Airline does not permit its workforces to form unions and they have to arrange of their own uniforms (Hamling et al., 2007). This indicates that in order to accomplish its goal to become the foremost low-fare carrier, Ryan air has often overlooked employee relations and their satisfaction.

Easy Jet’s silent accounts claim that the airline accentuates on the development as well as up-gradation of the ways in which their human resources are treated (Easy Jet, 2010). However, the shadow account reveals that the company in order to accomplish its strict luggage rules, often forces its customer service staffs to act as watch guards, much to the displeasure of their human resources (Telegraph, 2011). According to Ryan Air’s silent accounts, it has made attempts to minimise its impacts on the environment by utilization of efficient and up-to-date technologies (Ryan Air, 2011, pp.72-72). On the other hand, Ryan Air’s shadow accounts reveal that the company has not been performing well in terms of corporate social responsibility and ethics (Airline Post, 2010; Hamling et al., 2007). Correspondingly, the silent accounts of Easy Jet claim that the company focuses on minimising its environmental influence.

The company claims their investment in fuel competent and young fleet of airplanes have enabled them to control their environmental impacts (Easy Jet, 2010). Akin to Ryan Air, Easy Jet also does not score decently in its shadow accounts. Conclusively it can be stated that both Ryan Air and Easy Jet being low-cost airlines, focus more on optimising their profit by cutting down their focus on programmes related to their employee development, environmental impact minimization, as well as customer service many a times.

However, if these airlines want to develop themselves as a sustainable organization, they have to discontinue with their sole attention on profit generation. References Airline Post, 2010. Ryanair receives low ethical rank. [Online] Available at: http://www.airlinepost.com/airline-news/ryanair-low-ethical-rank.html [Accessed on May 2, 2012]. Easy Jet, 2010. Corporate Responsibility. [Online] Available at: http://2010annualreport.easyjet.com/corporate-and-social-responsibility.asp [Accessed on May 2, 2012].

Telegraph, 2011. Servisair criticises easyJet as staff forced to act like policemen [Online] Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/8291484/Servisair-criticises-easyJet-as-staff-forced-to-act-like-policemen.html [Accessed on May 2, 2012]. Ryan Air, 2011. Annual Report 2011. [Pdf] Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2011/Annual_Report_2011_Final.pdf [Accessed on May 2, 2012]. Hamling et al., 2007. Ryan Air: Silent Report & Shadow Report. [Pdf] Available at: http://www.

st-andrews.ac.uk/~csearweb/aptopractice/RyanAir2007.pdf [Accessed on May 2, 2012].