Role stress,burnout and their effects on frontline hotel employees' job performance: evidence from Northern Cyprus

Based on data obtained from frontline hotel employees in Northern Cyprus, this study investigated the effects of role stress and burnout on job performance. It was found that role ambiguity decreased job performance while role conflict enhanced job performance. The results indicated that diminished personal accomplishment exerted a significant negative influence on job performance whereas the rest of the burnout dimensions did not. The results further showed that both role conflict and ambiguity exacerbated emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. Role ambiguity was found to have a significant positive relationship with diminished personal accomplishment whereas role conflict was not. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of Covid-19 depression on spirituality and psychological well-being through the perceived environmental restorativeness of a pilgrimage route: Focusing on pilgrims on Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route

During the COVID-19 pandemic, policies adopted by various countries to prevent the spread of the disease exacerbated social isolation among people, and their prolonged implementation has had a negative effect on people's mental health, leading to increased anxiety, stress, and depression. Group religious activities were prohibited, so believers continued their faith practices through individual pilgrimages. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to clarify the relationship between depression caused by COVID-19 and its impact on spirituality and psychological well-being, through the perceived restorative environment of the Seoul Catholic Pilgrimage Route. The results confirmed that COVID-19 depression had a negative effect on perceived environmental restorativeness and psychological well-being but perceived environmental restorativeness had a positive effect on Spirituality, and Spirituality had a positive effect on psychological well-being. These results imply that pilgrims who have experienced depression due to the pandemic can improve their spirituality and psychological well-being through nature-based pilgrimages.     

Statistical characterization of deviations from planned flight trajectories in air traffic management

Understanding the relation between planned and realized flight trajectories and the determinants of flight deviations is of great importance in air traffic management. In this paper we perform an in-depth investigation of the statistical properties of planned and realized air traffic on the German airspace during a 28 day periods, corresponding to an AIRAC cycle. We find that realized trajectories are on average shorter than planned ones and this effect is stronger during night-time than day-time. Flights are more frequently deviated close to the departure airport and at a relatively large angle-to-destination. Moreover, the probability of a deviation is higher in low traffic phases. All these evidences indicate that deviations are mostly used by controllers to give directs to flights when traffic conditions allow it. Finally we introduce a new metric, termed di-fork, which is able to characterize navigation points according to the likelihood that a deviation occurs there. Di-fork allows to identify in a statistically rigorous way navigation point pairs where deviations are more (less) frequent than expected under a null hypothesis of randomness that takes into account the heterogeneity of the navigation points. Such pairs can therefore be seen as sources of flexibility (stability) of controllers traffic management while conjugating safety and efficiency.     

Luxury-cruise travellers’ brand community perception and its consequences

This study examines the roles of brand community and brand differentiation in the context of the luxury-cruise market. Employing a brand community integration scale, an online survey was conducted with 300 luxury-cruise customers in the USA. The results of structural equation modelling provided six findings as follows: (1) three of the four dimensions of brand community, namely the relationship with the cruise brand, the cruise product, and other cruisers, had positive effects on brand distinctiveness; (2) brand distinctiveness had positive effects on emotional brand attraction; (3) emotional brand attraction had positive effects on active engagement and repurchase intentions; (4) the corporate social responsibility image moderated the link between the relationship with other cruisers and brand distinctiveness; (5) customers’ desire for unique products moderated the relationship between brand distinctiveness and emotional brand attraction; and (6) service-use self-efficacy moderated the relationship between emotional brand attraction and active engagement. The results provide a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of the luxury-cruise market.     

Control-based optimization approach for aircraft scheduling in a terminal area with alternative arrival routes

This paper presents an optimization approach for dynamically scheduling aircraft operations and supporting air traffic controllers in both determining and implementing operationally feasible landing and departure times at an airport. The mixed integer linear programming model proposed incorporates air traffic control infrastructure in terms of route network, introduces the concept of alternative approach routes and is designed to generate an output that can be converted into effective advisories for executable flight commands. It shows reasonable computational times for obtaining the optimal solution and delay reductions of up to 35% with practical size instances from Sao Paulo/Guarulhos International Airport.     

The impact of perfectionism on situational judgment among Chinese civil flying cadets: The roles of safety motivation and self-efficacy

The objective of this study is to test a mediation model in which safety motivation and self-efficacy mediate the relationship between perfectionism and situational judgment in Chinese civil flying cadets. We collected self-reported data from 218 civil flying cadets from Civil Aviation Flight University of China. The results show that concern over mistakes and personal standards have direct effects on flying cadets' situational judgment. Concern over mistakes, parental expectation and organization have indirect effects on flying cadets’ situational judgment through safety motivation; whereas concern over mistakes and parental criticism have indirect effects through self-efficacy. Managerial implications of the study as well as the future research directions are discussed.     

Handling the pseudo pilot assignment problem in air traffic control training by using NASA TLX

Simulator courses play an important role in a department training air traffic controllers (ATCOs). One of the most important elements of these courses is a pseudo-pilot (PP) who has active tasks during simulator training. At Eskisehir Technical University (ESTU) PP assignments are made manually to meet the demand of related courses by considering the availability of PP. Even where it is attempted to assign each PP equally in terms of period, personal workloads differ due to the different psychological (mental) and physiological requirements of the simulator tasks. In this study, the PP assignment problem is investigated using mixed-integer programming (MIP). For this purpose, firstly, an equal period assignment to pilots was attempted with a mathematical model, called the Equality of Periods Model (EPM). Then, simulator tasks were weighted using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA TLX), and an Equality of Workload Model (EWLM) was created based on these weights. Finally, these models were combined to make fair assignments with the Fair Model (FM). The results indicate that the proposed models significantly reduce the differences of workload and working period compared to manual assignment (MA).     

Effects of work shifts on fatigue levels of air traffic controllers

Fatigue is one of the most important issues since it is considered to be a potential risk factor for human error. Most research related to human fatigue in the aviation industry targets pilots, yet air traffic controllers also experience elevated levels of fatigue that affects aviation safety. Despite this, fatigue is often ignored in literature, as it is a mental and physical status that is difficult to measure. The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) announced the concept of the Fatigue Risk Management System (FRMS) in Annex 6 in 2011, which provides suggestions to reduce aircrew fatigue. In 2016, the Civil Air Navigation Services Organization (CANSO), ICAO, and the International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers' Associations (IFATCA) published the Fatigue Management Guide for Air Traffic Service Providers and for the first time proposed recommendations for air traffic controllers (ATCs) to address this issue. Based on the management guide, this research used the Samn-Perelli fatigue scale to measure air traffic controllers' fatigue levels in an international aerodrome control tower in Taiwan. The results indicated that there were significant differences between day/night shifts, time periods (shift start time, before break time, after break time, and shift end time), and various work schedules. The results also revealed the importance of the timing of the breaks and time on task when arranging work schedules. This research contributes to aviation safety by investigating ATCs' fatigue levels in current work shifts, thereby helping related units to improve and adjust shift schedules in order to reduce the risks related to fatigue.     

Implications of the ageing society and internationalisation for airport services: A perspective on passenger demand for personal space at airport terminals

“Per-passenger-space” has been used as one of the fundamental units of Level of Service (LOS) measurement to evaluate the capacity of airport terminals for passenger comfort and service satisfaction. This study addresses the questions of how air passengers perceive personal space as an airport service attribute, and how the territoriality of passengers is moderated by their age and cultural background. Participants were grouped depending on their age and nationality for a comparative study. The results from the Repertory Grid Technique (RGT) and open-ended questions supported the conclusion that passengers of different age and cultural backgrounds perceive personal space differently, and their service satisfaction would be partially affected by the availability of personal space within the airport terminal. These findings suggest a necessity for alternative LOS standards that are cost-effective and able to reflect changing age structure and cultural composition of air passengers.     

Mobile learning adoption for tourism education in a developing country

Since developing countries are gradually introducing mobile-based tourism education, it is a growing demand to understand the students’ intention to adopt mobile learning. The study used partial least squares-based structural equation modelling to analyse survey data from 176 questionnaires at three tourism education institutes in Bangladesh. The study contributes to the theory of planned behaviour by examining the antecedent impact of innovativeness and moderating effect of self-efficacy. Results confirmed innovativeness as a significant antecedent on the attitude–intention relationship; however, the moderating effect of self-efficacy has not been supported. The study has marketing implications for tourism education institutes and government bodies.     

Domestic air passenger traffic and economic growth in China: Evidence from heterogeneous panel models

This paper applies recent panel methodology to examine the short-run dynamics, the long-run equilibrium relationships and the Granger causal relationship between economic growth and domestic air passenger traffic. It is based on the quarterly panel data of 29 provinces in China from the period of 2006Q1 to 2012Q3. Tests for panel unit roots, cointegration in heterogeneous panels and panel causality are employed in a bi-variate panel vector error correction model (PVECM), which is estimated by the system generalized moment method (SYS-GMM). The results show evidence of a long-run equilibrium relationship between economic growth and domestic air passenger traffic. Specifically, 1% increase in the air passenger traffic is found to lead to an increase of 0.943% in real gross domestic product (GDP). A long-run and strong bi-directional Granger causal relationship is found between these two series. It is also found that there is a short-run uni-directional Granger causality running from the domestic air passenger traffic to the economic growth.     

School site walkability and active school transport – association,mediation and moderation

Increasing active school transport (AST) can improve population health, but its association with the urban form is not fully clear. This study investigated the association of an objective school walkability index with AST and how this association is mediated by the perceived physical and social environment. 1250 Danish students aged 11–13 years completed a commuting diary and a questionnaire. The walkability index was constituted of measures of road connectivity, traffic exposure and residential density. AST’s share in all school trips was 85.4% with little difference between genders. The school walkability index was significantly associated with AST (Medium vs. Low OR 2.68; High vs. Low OR 2.49). Adding the perceived physical and social environment variables improved the model prediction of AST, with no change in the association with the school walkability index. Furthermore, distance to school significantly moderated the association between the school walkability index and AST. This research confirms the association between the urban form surrounding schools and AST. Medium and highly walkable school sites in combination with a distance to school below 2 km, no speeding traffic and many paths in the neighborhood was associated with the highest odds ratio for AST.     

A method to estimate air traffic controller mental workload based on traffic clearances

Workload estimation is a complex domain which has been investigated extensively over the years. Past estimation techniques have focused on measuring workload directly from the air traffic controllers (ATCOs) or inferring it from traffic factors. The limitations of these techniques are interfering into the ATCO job and not being able to capture the differences amongst individual ATCOs respectively. This paper presents a novel technique overcoming these limitations, able to accurately estimate the workload experienced by the ATCO based exclusively on the clearances provided to air traffic. The technique, which was calibrated for the EUROCONTROL Maastricht Upper Area Control (MUAC) Centre, thereby has the potential to more accurately estimate actual airspace capacity. It is independent of the level of system automation and therefore applicable not only with the current ATM system, but also in the anticipated future highly automated environments as well as during the transition period. The paper discusses potential applications such as real time monitoring of operational workload and post-operations identification of sector workload imbalances. Both can contribute towards enhancing the performance of the ATM system.     

Impact of ethical leadership on creativity: the role of psychological empowerment

This study examines the relationship between ethical leadership and employee creativity with mediating role of psychological empowerment. Data were collected from 183 supervisor–subordinate dyads in different hotels across Pakistan. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the distinctiveness of variables used in our study. The results also confirmed that ethical leadership promotes creativity at workplace, while psychological empowerment mediates the effect of ethical leadership on creativity. The cognitive evaluation theory was used to support findings. Implications are also discussed.     

Dynamic management of aircraft stand allocation

This paper aimed to present an original approach for solving the aircraft stand allocation (SA) problem dynamically when due to operational disturbances, the planned allocation cannot be accomplished. The proposed Multiple-criteria Dynamic Stand Allocation (MDSA) method uses fuzzy logic to support decision-making under uncertainty. The MDSA method provides effective solutions in a short time, necessary for traffic management in case of delays, emergency, and untypical cases. It considers partially conflicting points of view of different airport users (airport managers, air traffic controllers, airlines, handling agents, and passengers) and may significantly support managers on the SA problem. The approach proposed can also be used for creating an initial SA plan for a considerable number of aircraft.     

First-class airline travellers' perception of luxury goods and its effect on loyalty formation

This study examines how first-class airline travellers' perception of luxury goods influences the formation of their loyalty to first-class flights. Based on the proposed hypotheses, a conceptual model was developed and tested using empirical data collected from a sample of 202 first-class airline travellers in the USA. The results indicate that the five types of perceptions of luxury goods (e.g. quality, hedonism, conspicuousness, exclusivity, and the extended self) were generally associated with consumer attitudes towards first-class flights and thus led to well-being perceptions and perceived price fairness. In addition, well-being perceptions enhanced perceived price fairness, customer identification, and loyalty. Finally, alternative attractiveness moderated the relationship between consumer attitudes towards first-class flights and perceived price fairness. The results have important theoretical and managerial implications.     

Airport ground access and private car use: a segmentation analysis

The increasing scale of, and demand for, civil air transport world-wide has resulted in a greater volume of people travelling to and from airports. The vast majority of these journeys are made by private cars, which has led to traffic congestion and raised levels of air pollution in and around airports. Subsequently, airports are re-evaluating their approach to ground access mode choice and considering how to reduce the reliance on private cars. Based on a survey of passengers at Manchester Airport in the UK, attitude statements pertaining to psychological constructs from the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Norm-Activation Theory, combined with key factors relating to the passenger’s trip, are used to identify eight behaviourally distinct groups of passengers with varying potential to reduce their private car use. Two of these groups, described as the Conflicted Greens and the Pessimistic Lift Seekers, are identified as having the greatest potential to reduce private car use to airports. Analysis reveals the need for decision makers to address the existing attitude–behaviour ‘gap’ that can prevent positive environmental attitudes being translated into the use of more sustainable modes, as well as tackling the perceived difficulty some passengers associate with using these modes.     

Planning for balanced growth in Chinese air traffic: A case for statistical mechanics

This paper identifies drivers of variations within air traffic systems highlighting inefficient mechanisms that can lead to system sub-optimality. Domestic air traffic in China is used as a case study. Airports need to respond to local demands with airlines that control parts of the system as agents. The relationship between the agent's behavior and system-wide variations in traffic movements shows how the collective behavior of a relatively few agents can disproportionately influence the system-wide traffic distribution.     

How airline service quality determines the quantity of repurchase intention - Mediate and moderate effects of brand quality and perceived value

Drawing on an integrated framework of service quality theory, this study develops and demonstrates a mediation-moderation model of airline service quality that influences the repurchase intentions of passengers. This model associates service quality with individual behavioral and perception—brand awareness and perceived values and examines the buffering role of brand attractiveness and experience in the decision-making processes. In a sample of 451 passengers, somewhat as expected, airline service quality enhances the positive effect of repurchase intention on airline company service because it fosters a positive link between brand awareness and perceived value. Unsurprisingly, brand attractiveness and memorable brand experiences are found to strengthen the positive effect of brand awareness and perceived value. Several alternative models were used to check the robustness of our findings. Patterns of moderated mediation modeling for theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.