IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i6p5068-d1095822.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

In-Flight Infection Prevention and Control Training for Cabin Crew in China: A Qualitative Study

Author

Listed:
  • Wenwen Xu

    (Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia
    Faculty of Aviation, Chengdu College of University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 611731, China)

  • Nurfaradilla Mohamad Nasri

    (Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia)

  • Khairul Azhar Jamaludin

    (Faculty of Education, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia)

Abstract

Specific in-flight infection prevention and control (IPC) training was deemed an essential strategy for ensuring the implementation of appropriate measures to protect the health of passengers and crew sustainably during COVID-19 and the post-pandemic period. This study aims to identify cabin crew’s IPC duties and investigate the current status of the in-flight IPC training for cabin crew in China. The snowballing technique was employed with purposeful sampling. A total of 15 participants, including cabin crew of various positions, inspectors, and trainers from eight airlines in China were invited to attend the in-depth semi-structured interview between September and November of 2022. Cabin crew IPC duties can be classified into four phases based on a thematic analysis: before flight, passenger boarding, during flight, and after flight. The findings indicated airlines in China required their cabin crew to carry out strict IPC measures onboard throughout all stages of flight, including in-flight IPC training before flight, being aware of COVID symptoms and monitoring passengers’ conditions during boarding, the standard operating procedure (SOP) of handling suspicious carriers during flight, and so on. Meanwhile, six major themes concerning cabin crew’s in-flight IPC training were extracted: COVID-19 information, IPC Supplies and usage, IPC measures onboard, communication and explanation, information collection and report up, attitude and perceptions toward COVID-19, and IPC measures. Cabin crew were regularly trained on in-flight IPC through online learning, with face-to-face training used as reinforcement. Although training for knowledge and technical skills was deemed comprehensive, non-technical skills such as communication and explanation were viewed as a weak link. Moreover, airlines should make greater efforts to help cabin crew develop a positive attitude towards COVID-19 and overcome their internal fears. This study pointed out the shortcomings of the in-flight IPC training for cabin crew in China and can help the airlines improve the training program so that cabin crew can perform their duties correctly. Furthermore, the result can inform the development of future cabin crew training programs for the post-pandemic period.

Suggested Citation

  • Wenwen Xu & Nurfaradilla Mohamad Nasri & Khairul Azhar Jamaludin, 2023. "In-Flight Infection Prevention and Control Training for Cabin Crew in China: A Qualitative Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-19, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:5068-:d:1095822
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5068/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/6/5068/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chia-Yi Fang & Chia-Jung Hu & Yih-Jin Hu, 2022. "Factors Related to COVID-19-Preventive Behaviors among Flight Attendants," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-9, August.
    2. Jaegeum Ryu & Jungha Kim & Smi Choi-Kwon, 2021. "Infection Prevention Performance among In-Flight Cabin Crew in South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-11, June.
    3. Tsaur, Sheng-Hshiung & Hsu, Fu-Sung & Kung, Li-Hua, 2020. "Hassles of cabin crew: An exploratory study," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yu Wu & Shiting He & Qingsong Zhang & Jinxin Shi & Jiang Xie, 2023. "Evolution Game and Simulation Analysis of Disturbance Emergency Disposal of In-Flight Cabin: China Civil Aviation Security Strategy Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-24, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mina Song & Hyun-jun Choi & Sunghyup Sean Hyun, 2021. "MBTI Personality Types of Korean Cabin Crew in Middle Eastern Airlines, and Their Associations with Cross-Cultural Adjustment Competency, Occupational Competency, Coping Competency, Mental Health, and," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-20, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:6:p:5068-:d:1095822. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.