Investigating the antecedents and consequences of burnout and isolation among flight attendants

Flight attendants, typically characterized as being engaged in ‘emotional labour’, often experience stress when performing their work, and this may result in negative job outcomes and health problems. Based on the job demands–resources (JD–R) model, this study empirically investigates the relationships among job demands, job resources, burnout, colleague isolation, health problems and job performance for flight attendants. A self-administered questionnaire is designed to collect empirical data from flight attendants working at Taiwanese airlines. Using structural equation modelling approach, the results show that burnout mediates the relationship between job demands and health problems, and that colleague isolation mediates the relationship between job resources and job performance. Empirical implications are provided and discussed.

► The antecedents and consequences of burnout and isolation among flight attendants are examined.
► The results show that burnout mediates the relationship between job demands and health problems.
► The results colleague isolation mediates the relationship between job resources and job performance.