A Thematic Analysis of Online Complaints Regarding Cabin Crew
by HAVADER Editör Ekibi
Most of us have shared an unpleasant flight moment on social media or a complaint platform at some point. This study takes exactly that kind of material — 350 passenger complaints posted on the Şikayetvar platform between 2020 and 2024 — and examines it with academic rigor to uncover what dissatisfaction with cabin crew is actually rooted in.
The aim was to determine whether these complaints cluster under a vague "bad service" label, or whether more specific, recurring patterns exist. To find out, the researchers used thematic analysis in MAXQDA software: reading each complaint individually and grouping them under shared themes.
The result is genuinely instructive for airline management: four main themes emerged — relational inadequacies (weak communication between crew and passengers), crisis-management deficiencies, procedural-justice shortcomings (passengers feeling treated unfairly), and service-process disruptions. Notably, none of these themes are directly about a physical problem like a delayed flight or an uncomfortable seat. They're all about human interaction.
The value of this finding is that it clarifies where airlines should focus their customer-satisfaction strategies. If a passenger has a bad experience, the root cause is often not the seat's firmness but how they were treated, and how quickly and fairly a problem was resolved once it arose. The everyday parallel is one everyone recognizes: what sticks with you after a slow restaurant meal usually isn't the delay itself, but whether the waiter acknowledged it and apologized. When cabin crew approach a frustrated passenger with empathy and fairness, the original problem can be forgotten; but when communication breaks down, even a minor hiccup can turn into a lasting negative impression.
Because the study focuses on a low-cost carrier, its findings offer a particularly useful roadmap for airlines running at high operational tempo with a high passenger-to-crew ratio: invest less in technical training alone, and more in communication and crisis-management training.
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The aim was to determine whether these complaints cluster under a vague "bad service" label, or whether more specific, recurring patterns exist. To find out, the researchers used thematic analysis in MAXQDA software: reading each complaint individually and grouping them under shared themes.
The result is genuinely instructive for airline management: four main themes emerged — relational inadequacies (weak communication between crew and passengers), crisis-management deficiencies, procedural-justice shortcomings (passengers feeling treated unfairly), and service-process disruptions. Notably, none of these themes are directly about a physical problem like a delayed flight or an uncomfortable seat. They're all about human interaction.
The value of this finding is that it clarifies where airlines should focus their customer-satisfaction strategies. If a passenger has a bad experience, the root cause is often not the seat's firmness but how they were treated, and how quickly and fairly a problem was resolved once it arose. The everyday parallel is one everyone recognizes: what sticks with you after a slow restaurant meal usually isn't the delay itself, but whether the waiter acknowledged it and apologized. When cabin crew approach a frustrated passenger with empathy and fairness, the original problem can be forgotten; but when communication breaks down, even a minor hiccup can turn into a lasting negative impression.
Because the study focuses on a low-cost carrier, its findings offer a particularly useful roadmap for airlines running at high operational tempo with a high passenger-to-crew ratio: invest less in technical training alone, and more in communication and crisis-management training.