Cabin Pressure

Abstract

This article examines the recent history of female airline cabin crew. Through an analysis of 'emotional labor', it explores how women workers have successfully challenged and redefined their position and role in the airline industry. The main body of the article discusses the International Transport Workers Federation anti-sexism campaign and British Airways' cabin crew strike, both of which occurred in 1997. These are set in the context of action by cabin crew in the late 1960s and 1970s, and the impact of deregulation and heightened competition in the 1980s and beyond. The central argument is that such competition increased the power of cabin crew and that, despite airlines' increased reliance on emotional labor, cabin crew were able to carve out a new autonomy through struggles over control of their bodies and their jobs.