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The Pressure of Airline Workers-What Really Goes on in the Skies?

The Pressure of Airline Workers-What Really Goes on in the Skies?
Author: Romy Sullivan
4 Commentries
Tourism is an important part of the economy and is increasing year by year. There are many benefits of working in the tourism industry but lots of stresses are also caused from the long hours and demanding customers. Cabin crew is a popular choice for tourism jobs, it is a job for mostly women simply because they look better whilst doing the job. It may seem like a glamorous job but there are many side effects of working in the skies for long periods of time. It is shown that cabin crew have different demands in emotional and aesthetic labor (Hochschild, 1983). Both of these terms are essentially very important for cabin crew because the staff have to deal with so much going on without being able to show their real emotions. They also have to act professional whilst look ‘glamorous’ at all times too, even though the job isn't as glamorous as it seems. This writing will explore behind the main role of cabin crew and pay close attention to emotional and aesthetic labor and look at the many affects the job has on staff.

Emotional labor is defined as the “management of feeling to create a publicity observable facial and bodily display” (Hochschild, 1983). It is important for cabin crew to control their emotional feelings when doing their job, dealing with angry customers is part of their every day service and cabin crew are trained on how to deal with their real emotions and hide them from the customers. Providing good customer service is the only secret for cabin crew. “If employees express positive emotions when interacting with customers, the customers are likely to perceive these emotions” (Cho, Rutherford and Park, 2012). Simple customer service skills go a long way and should not be taken for granted because staff are constantly monitored on this.

Looking good is a very important part of being cabin crew; showing personality tends to help because it draws customers in and being likable is more beneficial in customer service jobs. “Human beings are naturally attracted to physical beauty and frequently make private judgements on the physical appearance of others” (Waring, 2011). This is consequently what customers would like to see on their flights. Hochschild (1983:96) describes the importance of ‘weight, figure, straight teeth, complexion and facial regularity’ for an air stewardess. These factors are the normal stereotype for this type of worker and mostly women tend to have these jobs simply because they are better at looking ‘sexy’ than a male is. Aesthetic labor has always been a key part of the job and started in the early 1950’s when cabin crew did all marketing for airlines. They picked the most attractive people to do this job and this followed by choosing the very glamorous and single people to do the job. The reason for this was to please the men and maybe get something from the business men (Barry, 2007).

The pressures of “looking good” and “sounding right” (Nickson, Warhurt, Witz and Cullen, 2001) are the main factors for cabin crew. If staff get this right then they are more likely to do well at their job. Making conversation and being friendly is just as important as looking friendly and smiling. Staff saying the right things to customers without showing any of their own personal emotion will benefit both them and the customers.

Although being cabin crew may seem like a glamorous job and look like a job of fun and lots of opportunities; there are loads of hidden stresses which cause negative effects on the staff. “Cabin crew commonly suffer from physical illness and mental exhaustion due to jet lag a tight work schedule that changes frequently” (Chang and Chiu, 2009). There is no stability in this job and living out of suitcases month in month out can take strain on staff, there is hardly any time to rest and the hours they do when working are full on and hard. Research has also shown that cabin crew deal with so many unhappy customers that staff can suffer with physical or mental illness which could cause long term effects on these individuals (Demerouti et al, 2001). Only certain people can cope with pressures such as these in the tourism industry and although employment is very high in tourism jobs, the turnover proves that the conditions they work in are harder than anticipated.

In conclusion, cabin crew jobs do have their benefits; the world is their desk and every day is different. Emotional and aesthetic labor is an interesting research and shows how important customer service is in the industry. Staff are rated on their appearance which why looking ‘glamorous’ is such an important theme in the industry. It shows that having a job like this is more than just a job but a lifestyle which gives people opportunities, yet also causes numerous stresses that are not healthy for individuals. Cabin crew staff are taken for granted for the hard work they do; emotional and aesthetic labor help to gain an understanding of what the job involves and just how important it is.






References
Barry, K. M. (2007). Femininity in flight. A history of flight attendants. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.

Chang, C. P., & Chiu, J. M. (2009). Flight attendants’ emotional labor and exhaustion in the Taiwanese airline industry. Journal of Service Science & Management, 2, 305–311

Cho. Y, Rutherford. B, Park. J (2012) The Impact of Emotional Labor in a Retain Environment. Journal of Business Rsearch

Demerouti, E., Bakker, A. B., Nachreiner, F., & Schaufeli, W. B. (2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86

Hochschild, A. (1983) Managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley, CA: University Press.

Nickson, D., Warhurst, C., Witz, A. and Cullen, AM., (2001) The importance of being aesthetic: work, employment and service organisation, In: A. Sturdy, I. Grugulis, and H.

Waring, P (2011) Keeping up Appearances: Aesthetic Labour and Discrimination Law. Journal of Industrial Relations


Commentary: The Pressure of Airline Workers-What Really Goes on in the Skies?
Author: Noora Hyttinen
I chose this paper to comment on as my conference paper also discussed the issues of aesthetic and emotional labour in relation to the work of flight attendants.

The author starts successfully by introducing the concepts of emotional and aesthetic labour. Also, the reference list looks impressive. However, as I have also read about these two concepts in relation to the work of flight attendants, the paper does not really provide any new aspect or information for me.

I agree with the author that the work of flight attendants is demanding in terms of emotional and aesthetic labour although the exterior may seem glamorous. Emotional and aesthetic labour are familiar in several jobs involving customer service. However, as also noted by the author, for flight attendants, the elements of emotional and aesthetic labour are particularly demanding as they have to deal with time-zone changes, long hours and not having enough free-time (Chang & Chiu, 2009). Moreover, the pressure is great for the fact that the flight attendants have to stick with the aesthetic requirements of the job , such as weight restriction and “beauty requirements”, even during their time off work (Tsaur & Tang, 2013).

It was noted by Hochshild in 1983 that there were more women working in the service industry and I believe it is still true, although there are certainly more men now than there were in 1983. However, the fact that there are more women flight attendants than men is not just because women “look better whilst doing the job” as the author says. According to Hochshild (1983), there have been several studies which prove that women are more adaptable in terms of emotional labour, where they have to adapt to customers' needs and leave their own emotions aside.

It is stated by the author that the pressures are high as well as the turnover rates in the field of work in question. Perhaps this is an area where change is needed as the change would most certainly have a positive impact on the employees' motivation. The author could have given some examples of improvement here as to what could be done in order to lower the turnover rates.

Overall, the author has successfully explained the concepts of emotional and aesthetic labour and has shown how they can be seen in the work of flight attendants. However, there is very minimal amount of author's own perspective or suggestions for the future. There could have been more attention on how the emotional and aesthetic labour affect the employees, what they are doing to improve the working conditions and what could be done in the future.

References:
Chang, C-P & Chiu, J-M. (2009). Flight Attendants’ Emotional Labor and Exhaustion in the Taiwanese Airline Industry. Journal of Service Science & Management. 2 (4), 305-311.

Hochschild, A.R. (1983). The Managed Heart: Commercialisation of Human Feeling. London: University of California Press.

Tsaur, S & Tang, W. (2013). The burden of esthetic labor on front-line employees in hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management. 35, 19-27.
Commentry: The pressures of airline workers - what really goes on in the skies?
Author: Holly Walker
I have chosen to comment on this paper because the title of discussion struck out to me and left me intrigued to know more about the topic. I have minimal knowledge of the subject so the reference list provided was efficient and helpful to gain an insight of what the author is talking about.

The author of this paper starts with a good introduction, it sets the scene for what the basics of cabin crew benefits and demands are; as well as giving a nicely structured description of the terms emotional and aesthetic labour. Hoschilds’s (1) definition is a good basis for this topic as it shows after reading sources for myself that emotional labour is how it is shown, a strain on an employee both physically and mentally.

I agree with the author on the terms of the role of a cabin crew member is stereotypically a ‘glamourous’ role, however this suggests to me that an employee of this role should be dressed up and potentially be a different version of themselves; whereas many sources state that women are hired on the basis that they use their ‘natural’ skills (2). I would have liked to perhaps read more if there was an opposing side to the glam life of cabin crew.

The author has stated through Hoschild’s (1983) that there were more women in the service industry, there are more men in this industry today as generations are expanding. The author explains that the reason for women getting the jobs more often is because of how they look, which I agree on, however it also has a connection with how different levels their (male and females) emotions are and how they can become connected with one another and their customers.

Overall, an impressive paper which I enjoyed reading. I would have liked to read the authors opinions on what could happen in the future, or how men are perceived in the air as well as women - but nonetheless still a well structured paper with relevant information provided.




(1) - Hoschild, A (1983) ‘Managed heart: commericization of human feeling’, Berkley, CA: University Press

(2) - N. James (1989), ‘Emotional labour: skill and work in the social regulation of feelings’, Sociologi- cal Review 37 (1), p. 39.

(3) - Whitelegg, D (2002), ‘Cabin pressure: The dialectics of emotional labour in the airline industry’, Journal of Transport History, 23 (1), p. 73
The Pressure of Airline Workers-What Really Goes on in the Skies?
Author: Renata Vitaite
I have come across this paper followed by its stimulating title and while reading it I realised, this paper clearly answered the title question, ‘’What Really Goes on in the Skies?’’. For the reason that the pressure of airline workers is a lot higher than really described in today’s media for the people across the world.

The conference paper debates about the benefits as well as negatives while working in the tourism industry, based on the cabin crew jobs. The author of this paper clearly states a good introduction of the topic to be discussed later on in the paper as well as it gives a nice well-structured description of appealing workforce.

I completely agree with the fact author stated in this conference paper about the emotional labor which is defined as the “management of feeling to create a publicity observable facial and bodily display” (Hochschild, 1983). For the reason that in every workforce the emotional labour devises to be controlled and solved for the reason of a better work for the future. As well as the main aspect when becoming or being a cabin crew is the good looks!? Author in this conference paper discussed it widely and as according to Waring (2011) “Human beings are naturally attracted to physical beauty and frequently make private judgements on the physical appearance of others”.
Consequently, after reading this paper I can totally see and agree that to get a job where you as an employee are representing certain company, it is all about the looks at first sight when client comes to an employee.

Certainly, there are a lot of men in the airline industry to this day than it was couple of decades ago, the author mainly talks about the female cabin crew, I do agree female are taking over the cabin crew jobs, but as well as males do, for the reason that male and female are classified as equal gender in according to their rights. But however, the fact was proved that there are more women in cabin crew jobs for the reason that women are more adaptable in terms of emotional labour, whether female have a better understanding how to adapt to customers' needs and leave their own emotions aside (Hochshild, 1983).

Overall, the conference paper seems to be a well-structured with a good argument that has to be researched. The author has clearly shown a good understanding of the title of airline workers and what is really going on behind the beautiful shroud of cabin crew jobs. For the future suggestions, the author should state more of his own perspectives and suggestions that need to be improved in the airline industry as well as a comparison to how men and women are perceived in the air, but nonetheless, the paper is well structured and the main information was provided and the topic question answered.


Hochschild, A. (1983) Managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley, CA: University Press.

Waring, P (2011) Keeping up Appearances: Aesthetic Labour and Discrimination Law. Journal of Industrial Relations.


(Renata Vitaite)
The Pressure of Airline Workers-What Really Goes on in the Skies.
Author: Hayley Crossland
I have chosen this particular conference paper to comment on as I think it is interesting to compare the ins and outs of actually being a flight attendant. Like the author said, it may seem like a glamorous job from an outsider point of view, the job is actually constantly full on, and hard work, and being highly popular to women due to the fact they get the opportunity to look good while they work, the role of a flight attendant isn’t always as glamorous at is seems.

Hochschild, 1983, correctly identified the different demands of emotional and aesthetic labour. The author comments on how important it is for flight attendants to stay fully focussed on their jobs, and with so much going on, they have to hide their real emotions.

The author has mentioned the emotional labour flight attendants have to go through. Delivering constant good customer service, like the author said, is the key to being a good flight attendant. Cho, Rutherford and Park, (2012) said that when employees deliver positive and emotions whilst interacting with customers, the customer is likely to reply in a positive manner. As being a flight attendant is a full on customer interacting job, to make their jobs easier and more pleasant, they should deliver positive customer service in order to receive positive attitudes from their customers.

The appearance of flight attendants comes across as constantly looking beautiful, and predominantly by women. The author has pointed out the key aspects of being a ‘perfect’ flight attendant. “Weight, figure, straight teeth, complexion and facial regularity”. (Hochsild, 1983). This describes a stereotypical ‘beautiful’ flight attendant. Airline companies will always pick the most attractive people for the roles of cabin crew and flight attendants. Barry, (2007) says that companies do this in order to please men and get more business from them.

However, being a flight attendant can cause negative effects on cabin crew. It can be physically draining on staff. The author has picked up on all the key negative effects on flight attendants job roles. With the help of Chang and Chiu, (2009), the author has mentioned the fact that staff suffer from physical illnesses and mental exhaustion due to jet lag, and a tight work schedule that changes frequently. While travelling to various countries, flight attendants will pass through various time zones and time differences, causing them to suffer with jet lag. The job also provides no stability, and flight attendants end up living out of suitcases month after month.

All in all, the author has mentioned the key factors of positives and negatives of being a flight attendant. Although the job appears to be glamorous, flight attendants suffer hidden negative effects, and hide them well by putting on a customer friendly appearance while working. Being a member of cabin crew is a full on job which does have its perks by flying to various countries, but can be mentally and physically draining.

References:

Barry, K.M. (2007). Femininity in floght. A history of flight attendants. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press.

Chang, C.O. & Chiu, J.M. (2009). Flight attendants emotional labour and exhaustion in the Taiwanese airline industry. Journal of Service Science & Management. (2) 305-311.

Cho, Y. Rutherford, B. & Park, J. (2012). The impact of emotional labour in a retain environment, Journal of Business Research.

Hochschild, A. (1983). Managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley, CA: University Press.