Case study: How Copa Airlines creates economic value for its stakeholders
Copa Airlines is dedicated to connecting destinations, people and stories, seeking to be the leading airline in Latin American aviation. Maintaining healthy relationships with its stakeholders, generating sustainable value for all, is a top priority for Copa Airlines.
This case study is based on the 2021 Sustainability Report by Copa Airlines, prepared in accordance with the GRI Standards, that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
In 2021, the economic value distributed by Copa Airlines reached $1,033,954 million. Tweet This! In order to create economic value for its stakeholders Copa Airlines took action to:
- create economic value for employees
- create economic value for suppliers
- create economic value for the government
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Copa Airlines has identified;
- How Copa Airlines proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Copa Airlines to create economic value for its stakeholders
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2021 Sustainability Report Copa Airlines identified a range of material issues, such as air and ground safety, corporate governance, compliance culture, ethics and anti-corruption. Among these, creating economic value for its stakeholders stands out as a key material issue for Copa Airlines.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Copa Airlines engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement (in 2022) |
| Employees
| · Intranet · E-mails · Signs in shared areas · Ethical line · On-site and online trainings · Performance evaluations |
| Customers
| · Website · E-mails · Social media · Satisfaction survey · Mobile app · Care modules · Counters |
| Industry and general suppliers
| · E-mail · Performance and acquisition evaluations · Area of Procurement/ administration · Website |
| Unions
| · Reports of results · Public partnerships · Open dialogue · Website |
| Shareholders
| · Board of Directors · Quarterly Results Report · Financial Reports · Website · Daily |
| Business partners
| · Regular meetings · Negotiations · Open dialogue · Website |
| Regulators
| · Reports of results · Public partnerships · Open dialogue · Website |
| Community
| · Social media · Website · Regular meetings · Open dialogue |
| Mass Media
| · Phone calls · Public partnerships · Open dialogue · Website |
| Financing banks
| · Reports of results · Annual report · Quarterly financial information · Open dialogue · Website |
| NGOs
| · Open dialogue · Regular meetings · Website · Phone calls |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Copa Airlines engaged with its stakeholders through an online survey.
What actions were taken by Copa Airlines to create economic value for its stakeholders?
In its 2021 Sustainability Report Copa Airlines reports that it took the following actions for creating economic value for its stakeholders:
- Creating economic value for employees
- In 2021, Copa Airlines paid $258,128 million for employee salaries and benefits.
- Creating economic value for suppliers
- In 2021, Copa Airlines paid $425,067 million to suppliers.
- Creating economic value for the government
- In 2021, Copa Airlines paid $10,486 million in taxes and contributions.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standard addressed in this case is: Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed
Disclosure 201-1 Direct economic value generated and distributed corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
- Targets: 8.1, 8.2
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Targets: 9.1, 9.4, 9.5
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References:
This case study is based on published information by Copa Airlines, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original please revert to the following link:
https://www.copaair.com/assets/COPA_Design_Memoria_2021_ENG_HQ-.pdf
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