By William Cox
In a 2024 survey of over 10,000 consumers, 78% felt that ESG (environmental, social and governance) was important; 84% said that poor environmental practices alienate them from a brand or company, thus negatively impacting their purchases.[1]
As such, airlines too depend on convincing consumers that they are good at ESG.
China Southern (stock symbol ZNH) — one of the world’s largest airlines, which is also listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange – ranks 16th in Yieldrive’s ESG analysis of 18 leading airlines.
The AI-based study shows that ZNH is less transparent than its western competitors both with respect to its ESG and financial data. The airline only reports on 7.63% of the ESG and financial indicators covered in the Yieldrive airline study. (Delta, by comparison, reports on 62%.)
In particular, ZNH’s ESG data between 2017 and Q4 2022 show turbulences in performance:
| ESG Area | Q4 2017 | Q4 2020 | Q4 2022 | Areas requiring improvement (examples) |
| Environmental | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.85 | Carbon emissions balance, plan to reduce waste, pollution |
| Social | 0.00 | 1.55 | 1.88 | Diversity, inclusion |
| Governance | 0.00 | 1.14 | 1.91 | Code of ethics for employees |
| Financial | -9.00 | -36.00 | -55.00 | Return on Equity[2] |
| Total | -4.50 | -16.66 | -24.68 |
Note: Scores are on a 200-point scale of -100 points to +100 points. This allows to plot good and bad ESG performance in detail. Scores are calculated using Yieldrive’s AI, drawing data from credible news sources, annual & ESG reports submitted to regulators. It covers “hard” performance numbers as well as public/investor sentiment.
China Southern has been publishing a social responsibility report in English since 2018, outlining its policies and results impacting governance, employees and communities. This includes efforts to ensure safety, consumer satisfaction and efforts to reduce emissions.
The Yieldrive analysis covers 120 ESG and 24 financial performance areas to achieve a balanced assessment between ESG and actual financial results.
Yieldrive is an AI-driven fintech company which calculates the financial impacts of ESG on companies on a quarterly basis. These data are for equity research purposes and do not in any way constitute buy or sell recommendations.
Dr William Cox is a co-founder and board member of Yieldrive AG in Zug, Switzerland.
[1] Mintel, Global Outlook on Sustainability: A Consumer Study 2024-25
[2] This was a Covid year and generally arlines suffered from poor returns on equity.