Cabin crew food safety training: A qualitative study

Abstract

This study aims to explore the status of cabin crew food safety training in different airlines. Using the snowballing technique, 26 cabin crew managers, supervisors and trainers (from 20 international airlines) participated in in-depth, structured interviews. The interview schedule was developed to determine and evaluate implementation and perceptions of cabin crew training. Data was analysed using a qualitative content analysis approach. All respondents perceived cabin crew food safety/hygiene issues are important in relation to on-board food-handling, for example: “food safety is always an important issue”. Findings indicated that while most of the airlines (90%) train cabin crew on food safety, different cabin crew roles perceived the same level of food safety training. The results obtained can be used to inform development of future training programmes, methods and evaluation.