The answer can likely be found in the same place as M. Gauss's answers in interviews regarding his remuneration (in 2021 he earned 829,000 euros, but that was only because his salary was reduced during the pandemic; previously he had earned as much as 1.3 million euros per year). Namely, everything is supposedly the same as in other international companies of a similar level. In translation – “Air Baltic” does not want to be measured against the Latvian level, but rather against the level of prosperous countries and successful companies, and there, of course, expensive cars and other exclusive accessories belong. If there is someone willing to pay for it, why not want it…
However, there is another very essential aspect to this story, which goes beyond the scope of a single company's operations, but rather reveals features of the new world order. When the first images and questions about the new “Audi” cars appeared, the official “Air Baltic” Twitter account provided an explanation: “The transition to an electric vehicle fleet (including in the technical and ground handling department) is part of the airline's plan on the path to achieving sustainability goals, reaching zero CO2 emissions by 2050.”
“Rest assured – in the coming years you will hear such standard phrases hundreds and thousands of times, and each time it will be presented that such a step was taken solely and exclusively for noble goals, so to speak – to save the planet. Under these slogans, many larger and smaller projects and schemes will be implemented, and electric cars are just one of the first items on this list.
Already now, various companies, when conducting surveys about their reputation, highlight the question of whether, in people's view, they are green enough as one of the first. This is gradually replacing the need for an image of a socially responsible company – one that donates to charity and carries out similar activities. Of course, that is still important too, but the emphasis is already changing.
What is needed for all of this to go through without causing public dissatisfaction and protests in the long run? It is almost impossible to achieve this with rational arguments and statistics, as they can quite quickly lead to opposite conclusions. It is different with faith. (...)