AVIA 2100 - Week 8

Human Factors and Cabin Crew

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 Cabin crew

• Cabin crew are an integral part of the aircraft operating crew

• Their role is primarily concerned with safety even though

service may take up the majority of their time

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 Cabin crew

• Cabin crew are the public face of safety within the airline
environment

• The actions and lead of cabin crew will have a significant

effect on customer behaviour

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 Cabin crew as employees

• Cabin crew are employees working

in a hostile environment

• On average, there are more lost-

time injuries suffered by cabin crew
than byJoggers

• Injuries to cabin crew are a serious

issue for most airlines even when
OH&S legislations does not cover
their work environment

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 Cabin crew as employees

• Hazards encountered by cabin crew include

– Lifting injuries (pax, luggage, catering trolleys)

– Burns and scalds
– Turbulence related injuries
– RSI
– DVT
– Food poisoning
– Sunburn (lifestyle)
– Violent acts by passengers

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 Cabin crew as employees

• Hazards can be mitigated in a number of ways:

• Procedures
– No service during turbulence
– Lifting protocols
– Reporting systems

• Ergonomics
– Design of lifting harnesses
– Design of galleys
– Design of uniforms
– Design of repeatedly used equipment e.g. trays

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 Cabin crew as safety professionals

• Cabin crew have a safety role to play both in

flight and in the event of an accident

• In flight, the safety role can cover passenger

health as well as aircraft emergencies

• A level of medical training is given to all

cabin crew and equipment is carried on board

• The changing demographics of travelers has

placed new pressure upon this role

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 Cabin crew as medical experts
• All cabin crew are expected to be able to
provide assistance to doctors on board or to
3rd party medical services such as MedAir

• Some airlines carry defibrillators for use by

the cabin crew

• Cabin crew must also be trained to deal with

the deceased

• Are cabin crew adequately prepared for this

role?

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 Cabin crew as safety professionals

• All cabin crew receive emergency procedures training both as

ab intios and annually

• Key areas are the management of evacuations, firefighting,

operating exits, teamwork and passenger management

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 Cabin crew as safety professionals

• A number of accidents have highlighted the critical role that

cabin crew can play in flight

• Lack of technical knowledge has been shown to be an issue

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 Cabin crew technical knowledge

• Cabin crew don’t know what they don’t know…

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 Cabin crew and CRM (Crew Resource
Management)

• Many airlines now have either separate or integrated CRM

courses for cabin crew

• For some carriers, this was a late development

• The two cultures could be very different and communication

was often very poor or non-existent

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 Cabin crew and CRM
• The flight deck door was generally seen
as a barrier to communication, or indeed
an excuse

• The concept of a ‘sterile cockpit’ could

be confusing

• Neither crew seemed to understand each

other’s role and needs

• Increased security post S11 has had a

negative effect on crew communication

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 The life of cabin crew

• Several human factors issues are associated with the lifestyle

including;

– Party-hard mentality
– Exposure to disease
– Isolation
– Unsociable hours
– Pace of work
– Sleep loss / disturbance
– Workplace injury
– Sexuality (STDs, discrimination, harassment)

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 Aircraft emergencies

• Up to 70% of aircraft accidents are now survivable

• Assertive cabin crew can expedite emergency evacuations

• Commercial pressures threaten crew complements (1: 36 to 1:50)

• Passengers look to cabin crew for their lead

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 Aircraft emergencies

• The ability of cabin crew to perform in an emergency is a

function of:

– Training
– Preparation
– Crashworthiness
– Leadership
– Equipment
– Experience

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 Aircraft emergencies

• Experience of emergencies may be

very limited

• Simulation facilities tend to be

much less realistic than for flight
deck crew

• Many airlines underestimate the

need for training to de-sensitise
crew

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 The future?

• Increased pressure from aging

population and increased cabin
crew to passenger ration

• Increasing threat of inflight

violence

• Larger aircraft - more difficult to

communicate

• Increase in survivable accidents?

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