engleski

High burnout level as main determinant of low work ability among flight attendants

Flight attendants have more responsibilities than most front-line employees in the service industry, as they are first trained to maintain cabin safety, and second to provide customer services on board. Our study aimed to determine the influence of different psychosocial risk factors on flight attendants work ability. Methods: Field study among cabin crew in Croatia was performed during May 2016. Questionnaires regarding job burnout, workplace stress levels, work ability index (WAI) and socio-demographic questions have been administered to 121 cabin crew. The response rate was 76.8% giving a total number of 93 participants. Results: Majority (84.9%) of participants were women with an average age of 40.1±5.5 years. More than 2/3 of the cabin crew had unsatisfactory WAI score (62/93) and 23 (24.7%) had low WAI indicating the very high priority of adequate preventive measure in work ability preservation. High burnout level had near 50% of all participants (42/93). Highest negative correlation with WAI score (r=−0.625 ; p<0.001) that was confirmed with binary logistic regression model controlled for other socio-demographic variables (OR for burnout score: 1.35 ; 95% CI: 1.05 to 1.74) showed that higher burnout score is a main determinant of low work ability. Conclusion: The occupation of a flight attendant is often used as an example of emotional work and due to their work organisation, specific shifts, constant time pressure and responsibility they are highly prone to job burnout. It is imperative to make an immediate preventive intervention to reduce levels of burnout among cabin crew and maintain their work ability.

flight attendants ; burnout ; working ability

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