Corporate Social Responsibility

Dassault Aviation, a major player in Aerospace, continues its commitment to protecting its employees and the preservation of the environment, from the perspective of Corporate Social Responsibility. In this dynamic, our Company relies for years to come on five fundamental pillars.

Improve environmental performance of our activities and products

  • Reinforce the low carbon Company plan consistent with climatic challenges
  • Integrate eco-design in the research of innovative technical solutions
  • Reduce our environmental footprint according to the principles of circular economy

Propose an attractive and motivating social model

  • Attract and retain talent
  • Promote diversity and equal opportunity
  • Propose attractive compensation and benefits

Guarantee a high quality, healthy and secure workplace

  • Bringing the Company up to an effective prevention culture
  • Continue to reduce occupational risk and improve working conditions
  • Develop the quality of life at work and promote well-being of employees

Meet regulatory requirements and compliance obligations

  • Comply with international, national and local regulations
  • Act in accordance with our commitments and charters to which our Company has adhered
  • Listening to Company’s stakeholders and meeting their expectations

Be part of a responsible approach

  • Preventing corruption risks and asserting our business ethic
  • Reinforce our approach to responsible purchasing
  • Keep industrial risks to the lowest level

I expect everyone to participate in this responsible approach of the Company, while respecting the values it defines. I am counting particularly with the involvement of management, at every level and in every area, to drive the implementation of this policy and reach the level of performance sought.

Éric Trappier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

People-driven performance

Our strength lies in the individual and collective performance of our people and in their passion for aerospace. Over the course of 2023, we hired some 2,000 people, including more than 200 apprentices.

Respected employer

Dassault Aviation is ranked sixth, across all categories, in Statista’s ranking of France’s top 500 employers, and first in the Aerospace, Rail and Naval category. This ranking, published by Capital magazine in January 2024, is based on a sample of 20,000 employees working for companies with 500 employees or more.

For the past decade, Dassault Aviation has been ranked by engineering school students as one of the top ten companies to work for. In the Universum 2023 ranking of the 130 most attractive employers among engineering school students in all fields, we once again came in among the top five.

In addition, we were ranked in the top three most popular manufacturing companies among students and graduates, according to an Epoka/Harris Interactive survey.

Lastly, we have been recognized as one of the 100 most responsible French companies in the Statista CSR ranking published by Le Point magazine.


Hiring and integrating talent

In 2023, the Dassault Aviation Group hired some 2,000 new employees, including more than 200 apprentices.

This large‑scale hiring effort includes a rigorous induction process for new recruits, including, for example, the organization of Envol training days and the involvement of the Dassault Aviation Defense Academy, as well as a strengthened skills development and training plan. At the same time, the company is working to develop its talent pool through professional retraining initiatives, specifically the Diploma in Advanced Metalworking (CQPM) program for fitters and metalworkers, and the School of Mechanical Systems, established at our Argonay plant.

We are focused on providing our employees with skills and ensuring equal opportunities for all. Dassault Aviation is committed to promoting the careers of its female employees. In partnership with the Elles bougent and AirEmploi associations, we are helping to promote scientific and technical careers among secondary school girls.

Training in India

The Dassault Skill Academy program is designed to support the growth of our manufacturing operations in India. Our engineering center in Pune is fully operational. We have established the Aeronautical Structure and Equipment Fitter diploma program in the state of Maharashtra, and we are in the process of expanding it to the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Profit‑sharing

Our compensation policy is designed to attract, reward and foster employee loyalty, while remaining attuned to evolving economic circumstances. Our incentives policy is extremely competitive: in 2023, the average amount of profit‑sharing and incentive payments made to Dassault Aviation parent company employees in respect of the 2022 fiscal year, was equivalent to four months’ salary.

Environmental footprint management

We are implementing an energy efficiency plan focusing on four key priorities to cut emissions generated by business aviation: SAF sustainable fuels, flight operations optimization, research and technology and CO₂ storage.

Business aviation and carbon emissions

We are committed to reducing emissions to achieve the worldwide target of carbon neutrality in the aviation sector by 2050.

In one year, the 2,100 Falcon jets in operation emit the equivalent of a day’s worth of global video streaming, 5 hours’ worth of global truck traffic, or 2.5 days’ worth of German fossil fuel power production. Business aviation accounts for 0.04% of global CO₂ emissions.

EU taxonomy

We have filed an action for annulment with the General Court of the European Union against the regulation excluding business aviation from the European taxonomy of sustainable economic activities. This action is based primarily on a breach of the principle of equality with respect to the other categories of aircraft included in the taxonomy. It also highlights a manifest misunderstanding, as business aviation is a key driver in the decarbonization of the aviation sector.

Sustainable fuels plan

In 2023, Dassault Aviation operated 413 Falcon flights using 30% SAF blends, compared with 179 in 2022. These flights resulted in CO₂ savings of 681 tonnes over the course of the year.

On February 1, 2024, Dassault Aviation and the ADP Group announced a five‑year agreement to step up their efforts to reduce carbon emissions at Paris-Le Bourget airport: supply and use of SAF, electrification of ground operations, geothermal energy to power buildings and hangars.

Research and technology

We are actively involved in the European Clean Aviation initiative, as well as in France’s civil aviation research council (Corac). Our work is focused particularly on cutting fuel consumption by reducing aircraft drag, as well as by the use of SAF.

Optimizing flight operations

Dassault Aviation has developed FalconWays, an innovative tool for optimizing flight plans, which was awarded the Aviation Week Laureate Award in November 2023. The proven reductions in fuel consumption achieved are up to 7%.

Our other contributions to optimizing air traffic operations include advances in flexibility, avionics, flight controls and the FalconEye Combined Vision System (CVS).

CO₂ storage

In addition, Dassault Aviation is a major corporate sponsor of the Maubuisson forest in the Val-d’Oise department of France. Thanks to the planting of a million trees of thirty different species on an unused lowland plain, this 3,300‑acre forest will benefit the 100,000 inhabitants of the seven neighboring towns as well as twelve million people living in the Greater Paris region.

Energy efficiency plan

Our energy efficiency plan, launched at the end of 2022, began to produce significant results in 2023. Our consumption of energy (electricity, gas, fuel oil) fell by 13.5% compared with 2019 levels.

We are one of the European companies that have achieved the greatest reductions according to the Financial Times’s Europe’s Climate Leaders 2023 ranking.

The circular economy

Our careful approach to waste management means that we have achieved a recovery rate of 86%, and our efforts are ongoing. For instance, we are pioneers when it comes to the recycling of composite waste materials.

Business ethics and compliance

Our vigorous and diligent approach to corporate social responsibility is accompanied by stringent business ethics, spearheaded by a dedicated management team with a proactive focus on compliance.

Stringent procedures

Dassault Aviation adheres to strict ethical business standards, in compliance with national laws and international agreements. The Ethics and Compliance department, an independent body which reports directly to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, is tasked with implementing measures to fight corruption and influence peddling, and closely monitoring performance in these areas.

Compliance system

Dassault Aviation has set up a rigorous and highly organized system for ethical compliance, based on the following procedures and tools:

  • an anti‑corruption code which is incorporated into our internal regulations and which defines the different types of prohibited behaviors; and an anti‑corruption guide that shows how this code works in practice, with specific examples and exercises;
  • an internal alert procedure, enabling employees and outside partners to report any breaches and violations of our anti‑corruption or CSR/ due diligence regulations;
  • a chart of risks to identify, analyze and rank corruption exposure risks and the steps to be taken to reduce them;
  • procedures for assessing how customers, tier‑1 suppliers and consultants are performing in relation to this chart;
  • internal and external accounting control procedures;
  • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance procedures.

An internal assessment and control process, run by the Audit and Risk Management Department, is also in place to support this system.

Vigilance plan

To ensure optimum management of the risks of serious harm to the environment, occupational health and safety, human rights and fundamental freedoms, Dassault Aviation has set up a legally‑mandated vigilance plan covering its subsidiaries and suppliers. In 2023, 385 additional suppliers underwent assessment under this plan.

Training policy

In 2023, 755 “at‑risk” employees received training in the key aspects of the so‑called “Sapin 2” law and about the need to combat corruption. An e‑learning program designed to raise awareness among employees was also launched and, by the end of 2023, had been completed by 3,030 employees.