Second Annual Business Ethics Conference
Ethics in the Aviation Industry
This full-day conference will examine social responsibility in the aviation industry. An exceptionally complex industry whose concerns range from those of manufacturing safety and sustainability to global regulation and consumer comfort, the airline industry has received a great deal of media attention in recent years that addresses issues such as passenger compensation, airline safety, maintenance, and whistleblowing.
Deadline to register:听Wednesday, October 30th
Event date:听Friday, November 15th
罢颈尘别:听8:45 - 16:30
Location: 苹果淫院 Faculty Club
Premise
This conference will look at these and related issues through the broad lens of ethics in the industry with special focus on three areas:
- ethics, equity, and accessibility;
- profit and social responsibility; and
- sustainability.
Montreal is the global headquarters of several important players in aviation, including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Airport Council International (ACI), and Bombardier. Bringing together members of Montreal鈥檚 professional and academic communities, as well as contributors from the UK and the United States, the Laidley Centre for Business Ethics and Equity will focus its second annual conference on the airline industry, placing special emphasis on the ethical dimensions of its current challenges, and articulate equitable solutions that will sustain the industry in the long term.
Agenda
8:45-9:15 | Check-in/Refreshments/Light Breakfast
9:15 - 9:25 | Opening Remarks
9:30 鈥 11:00 | Panel 1
11:00 鈥 11:15 | Break
11:15 - 12:45 | Panel 2
12:45 鈥 13:45 | Lunch
13:45 鈥 15:15 | Panel 3
15:15鈥15:25 | Closing Remarks
15:25 鈥 16:25 | Networking
Panel 1 鈥 Ethics, Employment Equity, and Accessibility in the Aviation Industry
Words such as equity and inclusion frequently appear in organizational mission and value statements, yet some question their authenticity. In February 2024, for instance, the CBC reported on a popular Canadian airline鈥檚 CEO facing the House Senate Committee after a series of complaints by airline passengers who had experienced numerous accessibility issues. And in the United States, workers in air traffic control have dealt with untenable working conditions that threaten not only their own wellbeing, but that of travellers, as well. This panel will focus on the industry鈥檚 ethical obligations to the safety of employees and passengers; workplace conditions in manufacturing centres, airports, and air traffic control centres; and passenger accessibility. Panelists will discuss how we can keep organizations accountable to their passengers and employees, and comment on whether the current oversight mechanisms are working. How do those in the industry manage these challenges financially while ensuring that ethical obligations to consumer and worker safety, as well as quality of service, are maintained?
- Vincent Correia, Co-Director Institute of Air and Space Law, 苹果淫院 Faculty of Law
- John Gradek, Aviation Management Expert, 苹果淫院 School of Continuing Studies
- HJ Jung, Director of EDI, Desautels Faculty of Management
- Gabor Lukasz, Director, Air Passenger Rights
Moderator: Paola Perez-Aleman, Associate Professor, Strategy & Organization, 苹果淫院 Desautels
Panel 2 鈥 Sustainability
Sustainability in all its forms is increasingly assuming a central place in the maintenance and development of all facets of the aviation industry. From source materials to manufacturing practices, and from carbon offsets to employee welfare, sustainability concerns seem to be paramount. However, in light of UN Sustainable Development Goals such as 鈥淕ood Health and Wellbeing,鈥 鈥淒ecent Work,鈥 and 鈥淩esponsible Consumption and Production,鈥 practices such as ghost flights during the pandemic, production waste, dirty energy sources, and untenable working conditions suggest that the industry still has a long way to go. Additionally, low-cost carriers appear to be, on balance, unsustainable in Canada, leading to higher ticket prices. Finally, the environmental footprint of flying renders the aviation industry as a whole one that requires leadership in researching and developing clean energy alternatives in the context of air travel. How can scholars, researchers, and industry leaders continue to expand sustainability efforts to respond to the array of related needs? What are the ethics that underlie these obligations?
- Nathalie Herbelles, Vice-President Industry Affairs and Sustainability, Airports Council International (ACI World)
- Pascal Hubert, Professor, Mechanical Engineering; Werner Graupe Chair on Sustainable Composites Manufacturing; Associate Director (Academic), 苹果淫院 Institute for Aerospace Engineering
- Valerie Myers, Director of Global Strategic Sourcing, CAE
- Cecile Michoux, Director of Environment and Climate Change, Air Transat
Moderator: Sanjith Gopalakrishnan, Assistant Professor, Operations Management, 苹果淫院 Desautels; Director, Sustainable Growth Initiative
Panel 3 鈥 Profit and Social Responsibility in Airline Manufacturing, Operations, and Maintenance
According to some, the privileging of profit over safety has been largely responsible for ongoing safety issues, as well as general consumer and regulatory concern, in the airline industry. As Jeff Wise observes, for instance, 鈥淭hanks to a string of unforced errors and botched responses, Boeing, like other corporate giants from the 20th century, has devolved from the epitome of world-beating quality to a symbol of managerial fecklessness, focused on short-term profits at the expense of the company鈥檚 long-term sustainability鈥 (New York Magazine, April 2024). Further, corporations such as Air Canada are working to roll back consumer compensation related to delays and complaints. Finally, the Air Traffic Control crisis in the United States, which contributes to a significant number of 鈥渘ear misses,鈥 has gained increasing public attention. At the same time, the airline industry continues to weather the losses of the pandemic and the lagging workforce of the post-COVID era while trying to remain stable and even profitable. If the apparent privileging of profit over the basic ethical obligations of sound, humane business practices is the problem, what measures can we take to solve it? How can an ethics-driven approach to these challenges enhance the long-term sustainability of corporations such as Boeing and Air Canada, as well as that of the industry overall?
- Angela Gittens, Program Ambassador, ACI-ICAO Airport Management Professional Accreditation Programme (AMPAP); Director General, Airports Council International (ACI) World: 2008-2020
- Carola Schenone, Associate Professor of Commerce, University of Virgina
- Charles 鈥淒uff鈥 Sullivan, Managing Director and President, Boeing Canada: 2020- 2024
Moderator: Sebastian Betermier, Associate Professor of Finance, 苹果淫院 Desautels; Executive Director of the International Centre for Pension Management
Past Conferences
Fall 2023
Healthcare: Ethical Management in the Context of Systemic Challenges
This event took place on November 10th, 2023
This full-day conference addresses best practices for ethical management, focusing on the healthcare industry. Like no other industry, healthcare has faced the challenges of dealing with disruptive innovations while ensuring equitable access. The healthcare industry had to address these challenges while dealing with global public health crises and severely constrained resources. The conference participants discussed some best practices that firms in this industry adopt to address systemic biases, foster ethical innovation and entrepreneurship, and ethically introduce new AI technologies. They have also discussed lessons firms in other sectors can learn from healthcare experience.
Panel 1 鈥 Ethics and Innovation in Healthcare
Healthcare entrepreneurship and innovations are two significant forces shaping the healthcare industry today. What are the ethical challenges faced by entrepreneurs and innovators in healthcare? How can entrepreneurs and innovators foster ethics in healthcare? The speakers in this panel will discuss how to ensure that innovation is ethical, promotes patient well-being and lowers costs.
Moderator:
- Robert Nason, Associate Professor; Director, Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Desautels
Faculty of Management
Panelists:
- Laurette Dub茅, Professor, Marketing; James 苹果淫院 Chair of Consumer and Lifestyle Psychology and Marketing; Chair and Scientific Director, 苹果淫院 Centre for the Convergence of Health and Economics
- Dr. Alan Forster, VP (Innovation), 苹果淫院 Health Centre and Professor, 苹果淫院
- Negin Ashouri,听Co-Founder and CTO of FemTherapeutics Inc.
- Dr. Lawrence Rosenberg, President and CEO of the Integrated Health and Social Services University Network for West-Central Montreal
Panel 2 鈥 Promoting Inclusion and Equity in Healthcare
The COVID crisis has revealed significant inequalities in access to healthcare. How can the healthcare industry start to address these challenges while struggling with severely constrained resources? The speakers in this panel will discuss how affordability, inclusion of marginalized groups, and private-public funding are shaping the healthcare industry today.
Moderator:听
- Lindsay Holmgren, Associate Professor; Director, Laidley Centre for Business Ethics and Equity
Panelists:
- Dr. Marcia Anderson, Vice-Dean Indigenous Health, Social Justice and Anti-Racism, Rady Faculty of Health Science, University of Manitoba
- Richard Budgell, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, 苹果淫院
- Seeta Ramdass, Associate听Director of the Office of Social Accountability and Community Engagement (SACE), Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, 苹果淫院
- Dr. Timothy Evans, Executive Director, COVID-19 Immunity Task Force Director and Associate Dean, School of Population and Global Health, Associate Vice-Principal (Global Policy and Innovation), 苹果淫院
- Dr.听Rita听Charon,听[Recorded version only]听Professor and Chair of Medical Humanities & Ethics, Professor of Medicine, and Executive Director of Columbia Narrative Medicine, Columbia University
Panel 3 鈥Ethical Management of AI in Healthcare
The explosion in AI is bringing about a significant upheaval in the healthcare industry. What ethical challenges does AI bring to healthcare? What have we learned so far about ethically introducing AI in healthcare settings? The discussants in this panel will discuss cutting-edge findings on best practices for managing AI in healthcare.
Moderator:
- Nicholas King, Associate Professor, Department of Equity, Ethics and Policy,听Biomedical Ethics Unit
Panelists:
- Samer Faraj, Canada Research Chair in Technology, Innovation & Organizing, Associate Member, Department of Social Studies of Medicine, 苹果淫院
- Azadeh Dastmalchi, CEO, VitalTracer
- Justin Mallet, Health System Partner, Roche Canada
- Ignacio Cofone, Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence Law and Data Governance, 苹果淫院
We are proud to announce that our event has been awarded a Silver Sustainable Event certification by the 苹果淫院 Sustainable Events program run by the .