AVIA 2100 Week 8

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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 OHS 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 dont know what they dont know

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Cabin crew and CRM

• 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 others
  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 150)
• 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?