Environmental and cyber top reputational risks for transport sector, Willis warns

Environmental concerns and cyber threats are now the top reputational risks facing passenger transportation firms, according to Willis Towers Watson’s latest “Transportation Reputational Risk Readiness Report 2024/25”.

Surveying risk perceptions among 100 senior executives across airlines, cruise lines and train operators, the study found that 63% ranked environmental issues among their biggest reputational concerns.

Meanwhile some 61% identified cyber-attacks, up sharply from 28% in 2023.

“In the last year, we’ve seen how an IT outage can bring transport operations to a standstill,” the report said.

“As companies become critically dependent on digital systems to run services, the potential fallout, including on brand reputation, is preying on minds.”

Scrutiny of environmental impact is also intensifying, with new EU rules demanding more detailed reporting.

Willis said airlines and cruise firms remain frequent targets for activists and “the potential for bad headlines — and penalties — is high if emissions or pollution exceed targets”.

The survey highlighted growing concerns around social issues, ranked by 53% of respondents, and disease outbreaks, named by 36%. The latter has spiked amid norovirus cases on cruise ships, which US health authorities said made 2024 the worst year in a decade.

At the same time, traditional safety concerns have diminished. Only a third of respondents cited accidents and bodily injury as top risks, down from 53% in 2023, reflecting long-term investment in safety measures.

The report found that firms are taking reputation more seriously, with 86% now having a formal process to assess and manage reputational risks, and 91% reporting dedicated crisis teams that train together. Yet financial modelling remains weak, with just 15% saying they have robust tools to quantify reputational damage, although this has risen from 5% last year.

WTW observed that passenger transport businesses must strengthen governance, improve risk assessment and plan for long-term crises.

“Once reputational damage happens, it can go on for months or years and be hard to repair,” the report added.