Commentary: Did Singapore Airlines miss the mark with paper serviceware in the name of sustainability?

It is risky to implement new initiatives without testing them beforehand in the age of social media where displeasure with a brand can easily go viral.

Perhaps SIA was reassured by the reception of a different paper serviceware in economy class on short-haul flights under three and a half hours, since December 2020. But expectations of service on such short flights are arguably different from longer flights.

HELPING CUSTOMERS EMBRACE CHANGES

Sustainable practices that deviate from what customers are used to may cause discomfort and may often involve technicalities not easily understood by lay consumers.

Companies could give customers a heads-up, providing simple explanations and rationales for the changes, so that customers can better understand and appreciate them. For example, SIA could have communicated the change when customers booked their tickets on flights that were part of the trial, perhaps even explaining how the changes lead to concrete benefits in a video before take-off.

In articulating how the change is environmentally sustainable, it could highlight how paper serviceware lightens the load of the aircraft, thereby decreasing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing fuel consumption. SIA also said, after the December 2020 roll-out, that disposed serviceware are repurposed into fuel pellets, reducing 60 per cent of catering waste.