Beards and Bloomers: Flight Attendants, Grievances and Embodied Labour in the Canadian Airline Industry, 1960s-1980s

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Sangster ◽  
Julia Smith
Keyword(s):  
Airline Industry ◽  
Flight Attendants

How managerial communication reduces perceived job insecurity of flight attendants during the COVID-19 pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peerayuth Charoensukmongkol ◽  
Pornprom Suthatorn
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Support ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Perceived Organizational Support ◽  
Job Insecurity ◽  
Negative Association ◽  
Flight Attendants ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Job Insecurity

PurposeThis research investigates whether and how the quality of vertical communication implemented by airline industry management can reduce perceived job insecurity of flight attendants during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe sample of this research covers 322 flight attendants from five domestic airlines based in Thailand. An online questionnaire survey was used for data collection, and a partial least squares structural equation model was used for data analysis.FindingsThe results support the negative association between the quality of vertical communication and perceived job insecurity; moreover, this association is partially mediated by perceived role ambiguity. When considering the moderating effect of perceived organizational support on the direct linkage between the quality of vertical communication and perceived job insecurity, the quality of vertical communication only has a negative association with perceived job insecurity among employees who exhibit high levels of perceived organizational support. For those who exhibit low levels of perceived organizational support, the quality of vertical communication does not have a negative association with perceived job insecurity.Originality/valueThis study advances prior communication research by showing that in order for communication to effectively lessen the perceived job insecurity of employees, it needs to be backed by high-quality organizational support.

scholarly journals THE IMAGE OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS FROM THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS AND AIRLINE CONSUMERS’ POINTS OF VIEW

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Deborah Simorangkir
Keyword(s):  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Gender Discrimination ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Flight Attendants ◽  
Flight Attendant ◽  
Gender Inequity ◽  
Cabin Crew ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Survey Results ◽  
Points Of View

The flight attendant profession is dominated by women, which may lead to the notion that this profession is one of the few in which women are not experiencing gender discrimination. However, research findings have shown that over time, feminization leads to a decline in status and remuneration, and thus must be understood and monitored because it may be camouflaging the continuous reality of gender inequity. This paper revisits the issue of gender stereotypes in flight attendants given new views of what makes for effective flight attendance. The work of flight attendants has been long regarded as ‘women’s work’, focusing on performing a commercialized version of the caring and service activities carried out for centuries in the domestication of women. Some images of female cabin crew in the past have included: nurse, mother, and sexual objects. Though major changes have occurred in the Western airline industry in the 1970s, Asian airlines, however, still enforce such restrictions as height, weight, age, and beauty on their female cabin crew members. Three Indonesian flight attendants from major Asian airlines were interviewed to analyze their perceptions of their profession and how they think Indonesia society views them. A survey was also conducted on 100 Indonesians to analyze their perception on the identity of flight attendants. Interview results show that while, flight attendants believe that Indonesian society still cling on to the old images of flight attendants as air hostesses who are often regarded as sex objects, whereas survey results actually show that this image has changed.

scholarly journals ENHANCING AIRLINE PASSENGERS’ SATISFACTION THROUGH SERVICE QUALITY: THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “HUMAN FACTOR”

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-69
Author(s):  
Maria Salamoura ◽  
Ioannis Chaniotakis ◽  
Constantine Lymperopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Flight Attendants ◽  
Industry Data ◽  
Equation Modelling ◽  
Airline Passengers ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
Service Quality Dimensions

The aim of this paper is to investigate the effect of service quality dimensions to overall satisfaction in the Greek airline industry. Data were collected through field research among 300 respondents, who have used a specific airline industry recently. Data analysis using structural equation modelling suggests that the performance of in-flight attendants and ground-service personnel are important factors in determining perceptions of service quality and overall satisfaction, together with reliability and satisfactory pricing arrangements. These “human factors” are shown to play a role both directly and indirectly in determining customer satisfaction in the airline context.

scholarly journals Trade union responses to precarious employment: the role of power resources in defending precarious flight attendants at Ryanair

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-445
Author(s):  
Pedro Mendonça
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Flight Attendants ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
International Solidarity ◽  
Union Action ◽  
The Impact

Drawing on a case study on the civil airline industry in Portugal, this article addresses the impact of precarious employment on trade union action and examines the conditions under which trade unions defend precarious workers’ interests. Using a power-resource theoretical framework, findings in this article highlight that cost-cutting employment practices are used strategically by employers to curb collectivisation and trade unionism. In addition, this article shows that when trade unions engage in an inclusive strategy to defend precarious workers’ interests, the compounded and inter-linked effect of trade union power resources, network embeddedness and international solidarity may be key to achieving success. S’appuyant sur une étude de cas portant sur l’industrie du transport aérien civil au Portugal, cet article traite de l’impact de l’emploi précaire sur l’action syndicale et examine les conditions dans lesquelles les syndicats défendent les intérêts des travailleurs précaires. À partir d’un cadre théorique fondé sur les ressources du pouvoir, les conclusions de cet article soulignent que les pratiques de réduction des coûts de l’emploi sont utilisées de manière stratégique par les employeurs pour freiner la collectivisation et le syndicalisme. En outre, cet article montre que lorsque les syndicats s’engagent dans une stratégie inclusive pour défendre les intérêts des travailleurs précaires, les effets combinés et interdépendants des ressources de pouvoir des syndicats, de leur ancrage dans les réseaux et de la solidarité internationale peuvent être la clé du succès. Der vorliegende Artikel beruht auf einer Fallstudie über die zivile Luftfahrt in Portugal und befasst sich mit den Auswirkungen prekärer Beschäftigung auf gewerkschaftliches Handeln sowie mit den Bedingungen, unter denen die Gewerkschaften die Interessen prekär beschäftigter Arbeitnehmer wahrnehmen. Die Autoren nutzen den Rahmen der Machtressourcentheorie für ihre Untersuchung und kommen zu dem Schluss, dass kostensenkende Beschäftigungspraktiken von Arbeitgebern strategisch genutzt werden, um gegen kollektives Handeln und Gewerkschaftsbewegung zu agieren. Darüber hinaus zeigt der Artikel, dass es für die Gewerkschaften ein Schlüssel zum Erfolg sein kann, wenn sie zur Wahrnehmung der Interessen prekär beschäftigter Arbeitnehmer eine inklusive Strategie nutzen, die auf sich gegenseitig verstärkende und ergänzende gewerkschaftliche Machtressourcen, Einbettung in Netzwerke und internationale Solidarität setzt.

Making the Organization Fly

2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 145-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Peters ◽  
Passagorn Tevichapong ◽  
S. Alexander Haslam ◽  
Tom Postmes
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Citizenship ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Service Sector ◽  
Business Models ◽  
Service Industry ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Flight Attendants ◽  
Organizational Functioning ◽  
Lower Status

Recently, the service industry has seen a low-cost sector emerge alongside the traditional full-service sector. We explored whether these business models have different implications for employee cooperation, one factor that plays an important role in organizational functioning. Drawing on the social identity perspective, we argue that employees will identify less strongly with the lower-status, low-cost organizations, reducing their intrinsic motivation for such cooperation. We tested these relationships among employees in Thailand’s airline industry. In line with expectations, flight attendants working for low-cost airlines (N = 77) perceived their organizations to have lower status than those working for the full-service airlines (N = 77), and this was associated with reduced organizational identification. This in turn predicted lower levels of organizational citizenship behaviour and a stronger desire for organizational exit.

Challenges and Opportunities after Working as Filipino Flight Attendants in Local Airlines: Input for an Empowerment Sessions for Tourism Management Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Sharon Candy Manguerra Mahusay ◽  
Brian Saludes Bantugan
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Airline Industry ◽  
Flight Attendants ◽  
Tourism Management ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Academic Courses ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Management Students ◽  
The University ◽  
Management Curriculum

This study investigates the different challenges and opportunities encountered by Filipino flight attendants, who used to work with local airlines, to create empowerment sessions for tourism students who intend to be flight attendants but will later find themselves transferred to another field. The notion behind the empowerment sessions was guided by empowerment theories, in general. The researchers interviewed via an emailed list of questions guided by the research questions Filipino flight attendants who worked in a local airline until saturation was reached at five participants. The narratives from the participants were textually and thematically analyzed to surface themes relevant to successful career shifting among flight attendants. Focal areas of development were identified from the narratives and themes and mapped in a matrix aligning them with existing courses in the Tourism Management curriculum of St. Paul University Manila, and the relevance of those courses to flight attendants before, during, and after their career in the airline industry. The study found that there are different challenges awaiting flight attendants after they leave said careers. Some encountered the challenge of looking for other kinds of jobs in a different company, how to adjust to their new, and how to deal with new responsibilities in a different field as a supervisor or entrepreneur. The study identified ten focal areas of development that could be cultivated in empowerment sessions within existing General Education and major courses of the said degree program. The study recommends that the same mapping should be done in all programs to empower students from any discipline at any point during their formation in the university and to optimize the value of academic courses in the lives of students.

scholarly journals Development of Modern Racism Scale in Global Airlines: A Study of Asian Female Flight Attendants

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 2688
Author(s):  
Myoungjin Yu ◽  
Sunghyup Sean Hyun
Keyword(s):  
Airline Industry ◽  
Flight Attendants ◽  
Validity And Reliability ◽  
Modern Racism ◽  
Tourism Studies ◽  
Modern Racism Scale ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Expert Surveys ◽  
Positive Results ◽  
Negative Phenomena

Due to the globalization of the airline industry, global airlines are focusing human resource management on diversity strategies and employing flight attendants of various races. Multinational flight attendants have brought many positive results; conversely, discrimination has led to negative phenomena such as racism. Nevertheless, research focusing on global airline racism in tourism studies is unprecedented. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a modern racism scale rating the discrimination perceived by Asian female flight attendants on global airlines. It was developed following Churchill’s eight steps (1979). This study derived measurement items through a literature review, in-depth interviews, first and second expert surveys, and a preliminary survey. These items were developed on a scale through a validity and reliability assessment and were finally confirmed as six dimensions and 24 measurement items. Lastly, research implications were discussed.

scholarly journals ASSESSMENT OF MENTAL WORKLOAD OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS BASED ON FLIGHT DURATION: AN EFFORT TO PROVIDE SAFE WORKING CONDITION

Aviation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-103
Author(s):  
Ari Widyanti ◽  
Maisarah Firdaus
Keyword(s):  
Airline Industry ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Working Condition ◽  
Mental Workload ◽  
Flight Attendants ◽  
Flight Duration ◽  
Safe Working Condition ◽  
Nasa Tlx ◽  
Safe Working

Flight attendants play a crucial role in the service of the airline industry. The aim of this present study is to examine the mental workload of flight attendants, and it possible relation to the flight duration. Two hundred and one Indonesian flight attendants participate voluntarily in this study by filling out a mental workload questionnaire, the NASA-TLX questionnaire, in the end of their flight schedule. Results show that the mental workload of flight attendants regardless the flight duration is on a range of medium mental workload. Based on flight duration, the optimal mental workload is for 1–2 hours of flight. Implications of the result are discussed.

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