Date of Award

8-2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Aeronautics

First Advisor

Deborah S. Carstens

Second Advisor

Amitabh S. Dutta

Third Advisor

Ulreen Jones-McKinney

Fourth Advisor

Brooke E. Wheeler

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand the intention and actual behavior of airport personnel in Aviation Sustainability. This study evaluated factors following Hasebrook and colleagues' (2022) research conducted in the European financial sector and adapted their instrument for use in the aviation industry in the USA. Behavioral intention and actual green behavior were the dependent variables measured using independent variables of intrinsic motivation, social influence, and extrinsic rewards. An exploratory survey research design was adopted to address the scarcity of research on the research problem in the aviation industry. The target and accessible population were all airport personnel working in airports in the USA. Snowball sampling was used to recruit participants at airports, resulting in a final sample of 167 participants across all nine FAA regions. Regression analysis was used as the primary analysis, and MANOVA as a supplemental analysis to examine quartile group comparisons. The results found that social influence was a major factor and the extrinsic rewards variable was not significant. Future research should explore how extrinsic rewards influences aviation sustainability. Researchers are advised to target specific airports and regions to test how these rewards can bridge the gap in compliance.

Available for download on Sunday, August 01, 2027

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