Job demands perceived by cabin crew in airline companies: a case in Turkey

Abstract

Human factors are traditionally seen as a major contributor to critical aviation incidents and accidents. Approximately 80% of aviation accidents are caused primarily by a human error, whereas the remaining 20% almost always involve a component of human factors. Therefore, this study, which is expected to contribute to ensuring the person-job fit in the hiring processes and assessing the effects of job demands faced by cabin crew on safe flight, aims to determine the job demands perceived by cabin crew who play a critical role in airline companies. To this end, the qualitative data obtained through the semi-structured interview method from 14 flight attendants in a medium-sized airline operation were grouped into 17 categories, and subsumed under three themes as ‘Key Responsibilities’, ‘Passenger Demands’ and ‘Individual Factors’. It is believed that the results of this study can contribute to assessing the effects of job demands that cabin crew came across on flight safety, and in this context contribute to the achievement of person-job fit in management practices to helps the effectiveness of the organisation.

Keywords:

• Airline companies
• cabin crew
• person-job fit
• job demands
• safety behaviour

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Çetin Yelgin

Çetin Yelgin, holding a master’s degree in Civil Aviation Management, has been working as a Research Assistant at Erzincan Binali Yıldırım University and simultaneously continuing his Ph.D. at Anadolu University, Turkey. His main research interests include safety, security, and organizational behavior in aviation.

Nalan Ergün

Nalan Ergün has been working as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Eskisehir Technical University, formerly Anadolu University, Turkey. She received her Ph.D. in Civil Aviation Management from Anadolu University in 2008. Her research is focused on human factors in aviation systems. Her main research interests include safety, security, and organizational behavior in aviation.