Cabin crew members’ silence: A qualitative study with cabin attendants

Abstract

Verbatim from Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons. Not paraphrased, not summarized.

Silence among flight crews has been one of the significant causes of aviation incidents and/or accidents. This study aims to explore why flight attendants remain silent during flights and/or do not report errors after the end of the flight. For this purpose, semi-structured online interviews were conducted with 21 flight attendants. The data were analyzed through content analysis using the MAXQDA 22 Qualitative Analysis Program. Themes and coding related to the research question were obtained by analyzing the scripts with creative coding techniques. Nine themes were identified by the content analysis, namely "poor relationship with cabin supervisors/pilots", "the lack of knowledge on rules and/or procedures", "the fear of punishment", "feelings of futility", "the fear of damaging relationships", "status differences", "the fear of negative label", "workload", and "laziness". Recommendations were provided for aviation companies to take culture-specific measures and improve the safety of flights.

Authors

• Ceken, Seda Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• Unsal, Pinar Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University

Keywords

• organizational silence
• speak up
• safety reporting
• cabin crew members
• Human Factors Psychology
• Industrial and Organizational Psychology
• Interpersonal and Small Group Communication
• Organizational Communication