Abstracts Category : Other

A Qualitative Case Study of Airline Pilot Leadership Behaviors and Practices During Crisis Situations

by Christina Rosa Filipowski

The purpose of this qualitative single-case study was to understand how transformational, transactional, and passive/avoidant leadership behaviors and practices of high-performing air transport pilots in the United States were perceived to have optimized team functions during crisis situations in the cockpit. Four research questions provided the framework for this study and focused on understanding what the perceived transformational, transactional, and passive/avoidant leadership behaviors and practices were of pilots and how these high-performing pilots optimized team functions during crisis situations inside the cockpit. The sample was a purposive sample of six expert air transport pilots and six high-performing pilots. The theoretical foundation for this research was Bernard Basss transformational leadership theory. The researcher collected data using the Multi-Factor Leadership Questionnaire, interviews, and researcher field notes. The analysis of data collected included coding, categorizing, thematic analysis, and triangulation. The results from the research identified the following themes: being professional, ensuring the team is committed to the same goal, aviating the aircraft and maintaining safety, maintaining a communicative attitude, displaying confidence and being decisive in priority of duties, following standard operating procedures, following checklists, and practicing through training. The findings of this study determined that high-performing pilots who effectively handled crisis situations displayed more transformational than transactional leadership behaviors and that crew resource management training prepares pilots.