Social Responsibility Activities As A Corporate Reputation Tool In The Aviation Industry

As a result of globalization and developing welfare levels, it is seen that the demand for air travel is increasing among transportation preferences. Airline companies, like organizations operating in other sectors, strive in various fields to gain an advantage in a tough competitive environment. Surviving despite many negative and shocking events, from pandemics to financial crises, from protests to social media movements, is a matter of "reputation". Considering that reputation is one of the most valuable assets of an organization, this issue requires professional and sensitive management for organizations. In today's world where people are more sensitive to environmental problems and there are disadvantaged groups such as disabled people and social problems such as poverty; organizations that want to have a positive and strong reputation are expected to implement social responsibility beyond providing quality products and services. This expectation shows itself in internationally accepted reputation reports such as RepTrak, and social responsibility activities appear as one of the reputation criteria. In this study, reputation management will be mentioned, a conceptual framework will be drawn on the issue of social responsibility activities as a corporate reputation tool in the aviation sector, and the most reputable and best airline companies will be examined in terms of social responsibility practices according to the research made by RepTrak and Skytrax.