February, 2004
AircrewHealth.comby Bobbie Sullivan, PhD & Jeanne Edman, PhD
Paper presented at the 33rd annual meeting of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research, San Jose, CA, USA, Feb.19, 2004.
A broad-based study of airline pilots and cabin crew was undertaken to investigate their perceptions of the stresses they encounter at work and in their personal lives, their ways of coping, and their health habits. Participants were 545 currently employed or recently furloughed crewmembers based around the globe, and working for many types of carriers, including major and regional airlines, charter operators, and air cargo carriers. Included as well were 'corporate crews,' who work on private aircraft owned or chartered by businesses and individuals. The sample was composed of 176 pilots and 369 flight attendants. More than 20 nationalities are represented in the sample.
Both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection were used. These included a self-report survey instrument comprised of a set of quantitative measures, as well as personal interviews and exchanges of written correspondence with subsets of individual participants.
Analysis of data from this study shows little evidence of cultural differences among crewmembers’ perceptions of work-related or personal stress. Most differences found were related to job category, length of experience on the job, or type of carrier, but not culture. There was considerable homogeneity of responses within each job category (e.g., pilot vs. cabin crew), regardless of culture of origin or geographical location of employment. The consistencies suggest the existence of a global supraculture among people who fly for a living.
Examples of results from this study were presented in illustration of some ethnographic features of this occupation-based supraculture.