Hot flight attendants provide better customer experience, study finds: ‘Attractiveness is essential’

Hospitality is in the eye of the beholder.

Researchers from Dicle University in Turkey revealed in a recent study that airline passengers believe they receive better customer service from attractive flight attendants.

“Flight attendants with higher levels of attractiveness were found to enhance passengers’ motivation to approach, thereby improving their perceived service quality,” authors Sahap Akan and Ozlem Atalik published in the journal Marketing and Management of Innovations.

The study collected data from 19 men and 18 women who traveled with airlines in Turkey within the last 12 months. Participants, ranging from 19 to 47 years old, were asked to watch videos rating the cabin crew’s customer service.

Stewardess who are easy on the eyes received higher rankings than less-appealing workers. Even if the service wasn’t the best, passengers were less likely to report bad service from attractive crew members.

Researchers used a novel neuromarketing method that measured the level of satisfaction in survey respondents with electroencephalography (EEG).

While people were more likely to say they felt more comfortable asking a dashing tenant for assistance because of their friendly face, researchers found their EEG readings did not correlate with their verbal report.

“Although participants expressed higher satisfaction with the services they received from flight attendants they deemed attractive, the EEG results did not reflect this level of satisfaction,” Akan, an assistant professor of aviation management at Dicle University, explained.

Study authors Akan and Atalik encourage airlines to hire “attractive attributes” employees to enhance customer experience.

“Implementing various programs and incentive systems to maintain the attractiveness of flight attendants is essential,” Atalik said.

As attractive as the hostess may be, frequent flyers should avoid flirting with them to prevent turbulent interactions.

“Do not hit on a flight attendant in flight … during flight, whatever,” urged Tyra, an experienced skyway steward, in a TikTok video. “Do not do that because you are making it awkward.”

The expert wingwoman alerted people that a flight attendant “has to be nice to you,” so don’t misread it as a romantic gesture unless both flyers feel a spark.

“If you wanna shoot your shot,” Tyra began, “then your best bet is just handing your number over to the flight attendant when you are getting off that plane.”