Greenwashing cases against airlines in Europe, US

Airlines around the world are facing scrutiny from advertising and consumer agencies, regulators, and courts over allegedly making misleading claims about their sustainability efforts, sometimes dubbed "greenwashing". While a civil suit lodged against KLM in the Netherlands is one of the most prominent, complaints and cases against other airlines have been mounting. Here are some other recent examples: Lufthansa, Etihad and Air France-KLM all faced a ban on some of their online advertisements by Britain's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in December over accusations they gave a misleading impression of their environmental impact. Earlier, Ryanair , Lufthansa and Etihad also faced criticism from Britain's advertising watchdog for either alleged instances of oversimplifying or providing misleading environmental claims. Whether it was Ryanair calling itself Europe's "lowest emission airline" or Lufthansa saying it was "protecting the future" or Etihad referring to "sustainable aviation", the airlines were told to avoid wording that could imply their activities were good for the environment. "One of the things we just caught onto was that a lot of airlines are making claims about sustainability and eco-friendly, sustainable choices, greener choices," said Miles Lockwood, the director of complaints and investigations at the ASA. Story has more.<br/>