Flying the Unfriendly Skies: How Flight Crew Members Perceived and Communicatively Constructed the Emotional Labor of their Positions throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented levels of volatility to all hospitality industries, including aviation. Such levels of volatility have highlighted a need to understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on flight crew communication. This study explores the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on intra-flight crew communication and the emotional labor flight crew members experienced. Utilizing the theoretical frameworks of facework, politeness theory, emotional labor, and emotional management, this study examined how participants communicated through the tumult of this time period. This study discovered heavy usage of surface acting and increased levels of emotional labor through 28 qualitative interviews with flight attendants, first officers, and captains, that flew during this time. Most significantly, flight attendants experienced the most emotional labor, but felt they could not share this burden with others on the flight crew
