A novel technique for evaluating and ranking green airlines: benchmarking-base comparison

PurposeThis study aims to evaluate and rank green airlines by proposing a novel approach that integrates different multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques.Design/methodology/approachThree MCDM techniques were adopted: Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) addressed the impact relationships between Airline Green Operations (AGOs) and classified them into cause and effect; analytical hierarchy process (AHP) prioritized these actions and found their global and local weights; and Techniques to Order Preferences by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) used the weighted actions to evaluate and rank 20 green airlines as a case study.FindingsDEMATEL outcomes provide the first AGOs impact relationships map (IRM), classify AGOs into cause and effect actions and provide better understanding how these green operations affect each other. According to the AHP outcomes, “GHG1and fuel” and “GHG2 and Energy” were the most important set of actions, respectively. Finally, a new evaluation and ranking for 20 green airlines has been presented.Practical implicationsThe AGOs IRM provides a better understanding of the airline green operations and how they affect each other. The new evaluation and ranking technique helps airlines to identify their green strength and weakness areas and supports their sustainability processes.Originality/valueThe increasing importance of AGOs evaluation and analysis highlights the importance of green airlines studies like this one. This study analyzed AGOs, their impact relationships, developed their IRM and provided a new worldwide green airline benchmarking base.