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NIU professor outlines solutions-focused research with Southwest Airlines on flight-attendant mistreatment and training
Summary
Presidential Research Professor Mahesh Subramone described a study of frontline employee responses to customer mistreatment, a validated 21-item measure of response styles, and a professional-development program evaluated with Southwest Airlines that reached thousands of flight attendants.
Mahesh Subramone, Presidential Research Professor of Management at Northern Illinois University, presented the committee with findings from solutions-focused research conducted with Southwest Airlines that examined how frontline employees respond to customer mistreatment and what training can mitigate harm.
Subramone said his team identified four response styles—reciprocation, repair, retreat and recruitment of support—and developed and validated a 21-item survey measure to classify those styles. “We found that depending upon the style that you use, you may have high or low levels of stress and job satisfaction,” he said.
He described a mixed-methods project that included interviews with 27 flight attendants, base managers and pilots; analysis of about 17,000 incident reports filed over two and a half years; an employee feedback system containing roughly 23,000 reports of mistreatment; and surveys of some 7,000 flight attendants (with a subset surveyed twice). Those data supported publication, conference presentations and student theses, Subramone said.
Subramone told trustees that Southwest implemented a three-module professional-development program drawn from the research and rolled it out to about 17,000 flight attendants; his evaluation indicated participants learned de-escalation and ally-finding techniques and reported improved attitudes toward the employer after training. He also described a mentoring initiative that pairs experienced attendants with newer staff.
Trustees praised the pedagogy and the alignment with NIU’s experiential learning mission. Several trustees said the project is a strong example to highlight in recruitment and external communications. Subramone noted ongoing projects on startup HR practices, customer resistance to service policies and the effects of algorithms on gig workers.
The committee did not take formal action on the research presentation; trustees asked administrators to consider amplification of the work in university outreach.
