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Boyd And Bain (1998) Cite A Number Of Characteristics Of The Aeroplane ...

Boyd and Bain (1998) cite a number of characteristics of the aeroplane environment and the conditions in which cabin crews work as problematic.
Potential solutions to the problem.

It has long been recognised that the airline industry is a high reliability industry where accidents and effects of fatigue are of extreme significance. The aviation industry has recognised the significance of human error in accidents since the 1970s, and has been instrumental in the development of special training, designed to reduce error and increase the effectiveness of flight crews (Flin et al, 2002). These crew resource management programmes focus on "non-technical skills" critical for enhanced operational performance, such as leadership, situation awareness, decision making, team work and communication (Flin et al, 2002). These have proven to be effective in addressing many issues, but cannot fully address the effects of shiftworking, which leaves non-standard working hours perhaps the most significant remaining factor affecting the lives, health and wellbeing of airline workers.

It could be that shift scheduling is one of the keys to addressing this issue (Harrington, 1999). Focusing on shift patterns has been shown to reduce risks of diseases such as cardiovascular disease (Orth-Gomer, 1983). Gunes (1999) defines workforce scheduling as the problem of optimally matching available labour resources to the needs of an organization considering all applicable constraints. This suggests a number of issues for the Aer Arann problem. The first to consider is available labour resources. If the number of staff is adequate, there should be ways to manage these resources effectively to maximise efficiency and minimise negative results of shift schedules.

However, it is an issue to consider in this organisation, whether or not increased numbers of staff might be a solution to shift problems more staff working less shifts less often, or more staff allowing all staff to work less unsocial shifts in a given time period. Gunes (1999) also states that one solution to managing staff as a resource is that the work schedules are developed for each employee, specifying the working and rest times through the planning period. This is the typical practice of any large organisation with a 24 hour working requirement, such as the aviation and, for example, healthcare industries.

There are several requirements that must be considered in the planning process, Depending on the particular conditions and the policies of the organization (Gunes, 1999). Some of the conditions for workforce scheduling are listed in Table 1 below.
Table 1 Conditions of Workforce Scheduling (from Gunes, 1999).
Nature of demand for personnel such as constant or varying over the days, cyclic or non-
cyclic.

Type of work schedule used -The most common is standard 5 day, 40 hour workweek.

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