Navigating Turbulence: The Impact of COVID-19 Stress on Flight Attendants' Pro-Social Service Behavior and Job Dynamics

The aggravated COVID-19 pandemic has induced stress and impacted employees' job insecurity and service behaviors across the airline industry. This study examines whether COVID-19-induced stress influences flight attendants' pro-social service behavior through job insecurity and job stress. Initially, a COVID-19-induced stress measurement was developed. This was followed by a quantitative survey of 322 flight attendants, selected through purposive and snowball sampling. Subsequently, in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 flight attendants to explore the identified factors further. This study utilized partial least squares (PLS) path modeling with the SmartPLS software to test the hypotheses in the proposed theoretical model. The study findings suggest that stress induced by COVID-19 amplifies feelings of job insecurity and job-related stress among flight attendants. Consequently, this heightened stress adversely affects pro-social service behaviors, leading to a decrease in their manifestation. The direct and indirect effects of COVID-induced stress differ according to job position. Unexpectedly, job insecurity has no impact on the pro-social service behaviors, highlighting the complexity of employee responses to stress and the potential for adaptation in crisis contexts.