Working as an airline captain in co-operation with multicultural cabin crew in Finnair aircraft
Rantamäki, Yrjö (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202502102567
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202502102567
Tiivistelmä
An increasing number of Finnair's long-haul cabin crew members are non-Finnish, Regional Cabin Crew Members, RCCMs. Communicating within a crew consisting of many different linguistic backgrounds can be challenging at times, simply because English, which is usually used as the working language in such work communities, is not necessarily a native language for everyone. Also, the behaviour patterns and expectations brought by different cultural backgrounds bring more challenges to create a smooth and effective co-operation environment, where all members of the working community feel natural and safe to work.
As author works as a wide-body aircraft captain in Finnair, he felt it necessary to address this topic. The most natural way to deal with the subject was a thesis in a form of a diary, in which case the challenges brought by daily work tasks and their solutions, combined with the theoretical background, would create a realistic picture of working in the above-mentioned work community. The natural goals for the thesis were to improve communication and cultural sensitivity and awareness when working with a multicultural cabin crew.
The work was carried out in a form of diary entries during eight different work shifts, and in terms of time, the thesis took place within the period of September 2024 - January 2025. Due to partial sensitivity of the subject and the restrictions imposed by the employer, the exact information about the dates of the flights and the names of personnel have been left out, and times of the work shifts have only been announced with an accuracy of a month. In addition, the exact company-specific procedures and more detailed information about possible exceptional situations were left unaddressed.
Since no actual theoretical material related to the topic (pilot/cabin crew multicultural cooperation) was found, materials dealing with the work of multicultural flightdeck crew, as well as materials dealing with different nationalities and their cultural and linguistic differences, were used as a knowledge base.
As a result of the thesis, the author feels that his communication in a multicultural work community has clearly improved, and at the same time he has understood the importance of communicating clearly and simultaneously preserving his own personality. In addition, his understanding of the effects and opportunities that different cultural backgrounds bring to the work community in his work environment, has improved.
As author works as a wide-body aircraft captain in Finnair, he felt it necessary to address this topic. The most natural way to deal with the subject was a thesis in a form of a diary, in which case the challenges brought by daily work tasks and their solutions, combined with the theoretical background, would create a realistic picture of working in the above-mentioned work community. The natural goals for the thesis were to improve communication and cultural sensitivity and awareness when working with a multicultural cabin crew.
The work was carried out in a form of diary entries during eight different work shifts, and in terms of time, the thesis took place within the period of September 2024 - January 2025. Due to partial sensitivity of the subject and the restrictions imposed by the employer, the exact information about the dates of the flights and the names of personnel have been left out, and times of the work shifts have only been announced with an accuracy of a month. In addition, the exact company-specific procedures and more detailed information about possible exceptional situations were left unaddressed.
Since no actual theoretical material related to the topic (pilot/cabin crew multicultural cooperation) was found, materials dealing with the work of multicultural flightdeck crew, as well as materials dealing with different nationalities and their cultural and linguistic differences, were used as a knowledge base.
As a result of the thesis, the author feels that his communication in a multicultural work community has clearly improved, and at the same time he has understood the importance of communicating clearly and simultaneously preserving his own personality. In addition, his understanding of the effects and opportunities that different cultural backgrounds bring to the work community in his work environment, has improved.