“The airport does what it wants to do anyways” – qualitative revisiting of the 4-factor model of fairness in the context of aviation research – first results of a focus group study

Abstract

Annoyance due to aircraft noise is known to be highly impacted by non-acoustical factors such as attitudes, expectations and (mis-)trust towards the airport management. As exposure to noise is generally distributed unevenly, perceived fairness in the relationship between the airport and its residents is assumed to contribute to annoyance judgments. Perceived fairness has even been shown to alleviate the distress of the affected individual in other fields of research (e.g. organizational and justice psychology). However, research on fairness aspects in the context of aircraft noise exposure is scarce. In the framework of the EU-project ANIMA, focus groups with noise-affected residents were conducted around Cologne-Bonn Airport in order to identify relevant aspects of fairness evaluations. Transcripts of the discussions were produced and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The four-factor structure of fairness (i.e. distributive, procedural, informational, and interpersonal fairness) was brought to life with statements from residents. The relevanc e of specific factors, such as informational aspects like truthfulness and justification was analyzed based on residents`statements. Recommendations are made to focus on fairness, both for future studies investigating fairness in the context of noise research and airport management measures aimed at establishing a constructive relationship to aircraft noise affected residents.