Shapes of Tourism Employment

9Aircrew Conflict Management: Divisions and Continuity within the Ranks of the Majors

9.1. Two jobs for the same condition

Being a crew member is subject to conditions [UEL 12]. It brings together two trades that are both close and distinct, one for flight deck crew (pilots, co-pilots and formerly mechanics) and the other for cabin crew (flight attendants), a long time seen as “waiters” while their technical knowledge was ignored. Working together in the air far from the tangible organization and its routines, these two categories of employees thus distinguish themselves from the “ground staff”, to form a noble class [BAR 10], that of the “crew members”, spreading within the collective imagination the emblematic figures of freedom, prestige and dream life declined around travel and luxury. Nevertheless, the reality experienced by a good number of recruits, whether in low-cost airlines, new entrants or legacies, often breaks, after a state of grace that varies according to individual contexts and situations, with the illusions of the time when career choices were made, yet always embraced in the name of fascination and passion.

Also, the difficulty inherent in both jobs (fatigue, the effect of jet lag on health and lifestyle, noise, cramped workspace, weight of responsibilities in the face of risk) seems to be all the more acute and expressed in a context of effort, denial of recognition or social contempt, all contemporary perceptions that are detrimental to maintaining the ...