Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Intercultural Communication on the Flight Deck: A Review of Studies in Aviation

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Advances in Human Aspects of Transportation (AHFE 2018)

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 786))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

It has become evident in recent decades that many airline accidents have been at least partly caused by cultural factors. The first section of this paper reviews definitions of culture, which within aviation is typically divided into national, organizational and professional culture. The second section summarizes approaches in the study of intercultural communication that are relevant to airline flight operations, including the limitations of each approach. The third section describes eight studies that investigated intercultural communication in airline contexts in a variety of countries. The paper highlights the need for further research into the effects of culture on flight deck interaction in monocultural airlines compared with multicultural airlines. Although this review covers studies in civil aviation, it is relevant to other contexts in which small multicultural teams operate in high-risk environments, such as space missions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 229.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 299.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. 1.

    Hall expressed a similar sentiment when he observed that “culture is communication and communication is culture” [24].

  2. 2.

    The accident context was unusual: it occurred on New Year’s Eve; there were no passengers; and the captain was junior to the first officer in terms of previous air force service.

  3. 3.

    Linde noted that “the use of indirect speech acts for mitigation is extremely complex” and emphasized the importance of understanding the communication context [63]

References

  1. Helmreich, R.L., Merritt, A.C.: Culture at Work in Aviation and Medicine: National, Organizational and Professional Influences. Ashgate Publishing, Farnham (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Strauch, B.: Can cultural differences lead to accidents? Team cultural differences and sociotechnical system operations. Hum. Factors 52(2), 246–263 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Chow, S., Yortsos, S., Meshkati, N.: Asiana Airlines Flight 214: investigating cockpit automation and culture issues in aviation safety. Aviat. Psychol. Appl. Hum. Factors 4(2), 113–121 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Ragan, P.H.: Cross-cultural communication in aviation. In: Ahmad, K., Rogers, M. (eds.) Evidence-Based LSP: Translation, Text and Terminology, pp. 119–141. Peter Lang, Bern (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Williams, R.: Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Oxford University Press, New York (1985). Original work published 1976, p. 87

    Google Scholar 

  6. Trompenaars, F., Hampden-Turner, C.: Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, 2nd edn, p. 13. Nicholas Brealey, London (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Hofstede, G.: Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values, Abridged edn, p. 21. Sage, Newbury Park (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Pennycook, A.: The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language, p. 61. Longman, Harlow (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Haviland, W.A., Prins, H.E.L., McBride, B., Walrath, D.: Cultural Anthropology: The Human Challenge, 15th edn, p. 31. Cengage Learning, Boston (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R.P.: Introduction to Sociology, 5th edn, p. 52. W. W. Norton & Company Inc., New York (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Trompenaars, F., Hampden-Turner, C.: Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, 2nd edn, p. 6. Nicholas Brealey, London (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Usunier, J.-C.: International and Cross-Cultural Management Research, p. 16. Sage, London (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Adler, N.J., Gundersen, A.: International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, 5th edn. Thomson/South-Western, Mason (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Federal Aviation Administration: The Interfaces between Flightcrews and Modern Flight Deck Systems, p. 117. FAA, Washington, D.C. (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Hofstede, G.: Business Cultures. UNESCO. Courier 47(4), 12–16 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Lewis, R.D.: When Cultures Collide: Managing Successfully across Cultures, New edn. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Maznevski, M., Peterson, M.F.: Societal values, social interpretation, and multinational teams. In: Grandrose, C.S., Oskamp, S. (eds.), Cross-Cultural Work Groups: Claremont Symposium on Applied Social Psychology, pp. 61–89. Sage, Thousand Oaks (1997). p. 66

    Google Scholar 

  18. Hall, E.T.: The Silent Language. Anchor Books, New York (1990). Original work published 1959, p. 32

    Google Scholar 

  19. Hall, E.T.: Beyond Culture. Anchor Books, New York (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hall, E.T.: The Dance of Life. Anchor Books, New York (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hutchins E., Holder B.E., Pérez R.A.: Culture and Flight Deck Operations. Paper prepared for Boeing by University of California San Diego, Research Agreement 22-5003 (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Scollon, R., Scollon, S.W., Jones, R.H.: Intercultural Communication: A Discourse Approach, 3rd edn. Wiley, Chichester (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Hymes, D.H.: Models of the interaction of language and social life. In: Gumperz, J.J., Hymes, D. (eds.) Directions in Sociolinguistics: The Ethnography of Communication, pp. 35–71. Holt, Rinehart & Winston, New York (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Hall, E.T.: The Silent Language. Anchor Books, New York (1990). Original work published 1959, p. 186

    Google Scholar 

  25. Strauch, B.: Can cultural differences lead to accidents? Team cultural differences and sociotechnical system operations. Hum. Factors 52(2), 246–263 (2010), p. 259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Hofstede, G.: Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Sage, Beverley Hills (1980)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G.J., Minkov, M.: Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind, 3rd edn. McGraw-Hill, New York (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Hofstede, G., Neuijen, B., Ohayv, D.D., Sanders, G.: Measuring organizational cultures: a qualitative and quantitative study across twenty cases. Adm. Sci. Q. 35(2), 286–316 (1990)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Hodgetts, R.M., Luthans, F., Doh, J.: International Management: Culture, Strategy and Behavior, 6th edn. McGraw-Hill, New York (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  30. McSweeney, B.: Hofstede’s model of national cultural differences and their consequences: a triumph of faith – a failure of analysis. Hum. Relat. 55(1), 89–117 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Ailon, G.: Mirror, mirror on the wall: culture’s consequences in a value test of its own design. Acad. Manage. Rev. 33(4), 885–904 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Aritz, J., Walker, R.C.: Cognitive organization and identity maintenance in multicultural teams: a discourse analysis of decision-making meetings. J. Bus. Commun. 47(1), 20–41 (2010)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Nakata, C.: Beyond Hofstede: Culture Frameworks for Global Marketing and Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke (2009)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  34. Hofstede, G.: The cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories. J. Int. Bus. Stud. 14(2), 75–89 (1983)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Trompenaars, F., Hampden-Turner, C.: Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, 2nd edn, p. 13. Nicholas Brealey, London (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Guirdham, M.: Communicating across Cultures at Work, 2nd edn. Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Hofstede, G.: Riding the waves of commerce: a test of Trompenaars’ “Model” of national culture differences. Int. J. Intercultural Relat. 20(2), 189–198 (1996)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Ting-Toomey, S.: Face-negotiation theory. In: Griffin, E. (ed.) A First Look at Communication Theory, 8th edn., pp. 407– 420. McGraw-Hill, New York (2012). p. 407

    Google Scholar 

  39. Ting-Toomey, S.: Face-negotiation theory. In: Griffin, E. (ed.) A First Look at Communication Theory, 8th edn., pp. 407– 420. McGraw-Hill, New York (2012). p. 410

    Google Scholar 

  40. Goldsmith, D.: Politeness Theory. In: Littlejohn, S.W., Foss, K.A. (eds.) Encyclopedia of Communication Theory, pp. 754–756. Sage, Thousand Oaks (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  41. Ting-Toomey, S.: Face-Negotiation Theory. In: Griffin, E. (ed.) A First Look at Communication Theory, 8th edn, pp. 407–420. McGraw-Hill, New York (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Merritt, A.C., Helmreich, R.L.: Human factors on the flight deck: the influence of national culture. J. Cross-Cultural Psychol. 27(1), 5–24 (1996). p. 23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Merritt, A.C.: Culture in the Cockpit: Do Hofstede’s Dimensions Replicate? J. Cross Cult. Psychol. 31(283–301), 285 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Merritt, A.C.: Culture in the Cockpit: Do Hofstede’s Dimensions Replicate? J. Cross Cult. Psychol. 31(283–301), 283 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  45. Maurino, D.E., Murray, P.S.: Crew Resource Management. In: Wise, J.A., Hopkin, V.D., Garland, D.J. (eds.) Handbook of Aviation Human Factors, 2nd edn., pp. 10-1–10-20. CRC Press, Boca Raton (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Jing, H.-S., Batteau, A.: The Dragon in the Cockpit: How Aviation Concepts Conflict with Chinese Value Systems. Ashgate Publishing, Farnham (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Jing, H.-S., Batteau, A.: The Dragon in the Cockpit: How Aviation Concepts Conflict with Chinese Value Systems. Ashgate Publishing, Farnham (2015). p. 30

    Google Scholar 

  48. Mjøs, K.: Basic cultural elements affecting the team function on the flight deck. Int. J. Aviat. Psychol. 14(2), 151–169 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Scott, S.: The Effects of Culture on Decision-Making in the Flight Deck Environment (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Coventry University, UK (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Scott, S.: The Effects of Culture on Decision-Making in the Flight Deck Environment (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Coventry University, UK (2013). p. 261

    Google Scholar 

  51. Scott, S.: The Effects of Culture on Decision-Making in the Flight Deck Environment (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Automotive Engineering, Coventry University, UK (2013). p. 262

    Google Scholar 

  52. Dahlstrom, N., Heemstra, L.R.: Beyond multi-culture: when increasing diversity dissolves differences. In: Strohschneider, S., Heiman, R. (eds.) Kultur und Sicheres Handeln, pp. 79–97. Verlag für Polizeiwissenschaft, Frankfurt (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  53. Hutchins, E., Nomura, S., Holder, B.: The ecology of language practices in worldwide airline flight deck operations: the case of Japanese airlines. In: International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction in Aeronautics, Seattle, WA (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Kim, H., Elder, C.: Interrogating the construct of aviation english: feedback from test takers in Korea. Lang. Testing 32(2), 129–149 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Kim, H., Elder, C.: Understanding aviation English as a Lingua Franca: perceptions of Korean aviation personnel. Aust. Rev. Appl. Linguist. 32(3), 23.1–23.17 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Kim, H., Elder, C.: Understanding aviation English as a Lingua Franca: perceptions of Korean aviation personnel. Aust. Rev. Appl. Linguist. 32(3), 23.1–23.17 (2009). p. 23.2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Kim, H.: Exploring the construct of radiotelephony communication: a critique of the ICAO English testing policy from the perspective of Korean aviation experts. Papers Lang. Test. Assess. 2(2), 103–110 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  58. Kim, H., Elder, C.: Understanding aviation English as a Lingua Franca: perceptions of Korean aviation personnel. Aust. Rev. Appl. Linguist. 32(3), 23.1–23.17 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Kim, H., Elder, C.: Understanding aviation English as a Lingua Franca: perceptions of Korean aviation personnel. Aust. Rev. Appl. Linguist. 32(3), 23.1–23.17 (2009). p. 23.14

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Linde, C.: The quantitative study of communicational success: politeness and accidents in aviation discourse. In: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Seattle, Washington, 27–30 December 1985 (1985)

    Google Scholar 

  61. Linde, C.: The quantitative study of communicational success: politeness and accidents in aviation discourse. In: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Seattle, Washington, 27–30 December 1985 (1985). p. 4

    Google Scholar 

  62. Goguen, J., Linde, C., Murphy, M.: Crew Communications as a Factor in Aviation Accidents. NASA, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  63. Linde, C.: The Quantitative Study of Communicational Success: Politeness and Accidents in Aviation Discourse. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America, Seattle, Washington, 27–30 December 1985 (1985), p. 8

    Google Scholar 

  64. Fischer, U., Orasanu, J.: Cultural diversity and crew communication. In: Paper presented at 50th Astronautical Congress in Amsterdam, October (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  65. Fischer, U.: Cultural Variability in Crew Discourse. Final Report on Cooperative Agreement No. NCC 2-933 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  66. Merritt, A.C.: Culture in the cockpit: do Hofstede’s dimensions replicate? J. Cross Cult. Psychol. 31, 283–301 (2000)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aviation Management Department, J. F. Oberlin University, 3758 Tokiwa-Machi, Machida-shi, Tokyo, 194-0294, Japan

    Simon Cookson

Authors
  1. Simon Cookson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Cookson .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Engineering and the Environment, Transportation Research Group, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK

    Neville Stanton

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Cookson, S. (2019). Intercultural Communication on the Flight Deck: A Review of Studies in Aviation. In: Stanton, N. (eds) Advances in Human Aspects of Transportation. AHFE 2018. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 786. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93885-1_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-93885-1_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-93884-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-93885-1

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation