Exploring the Association between Communication Satisfaction and Trust in the Aviation Maintenance Environment: An International Study

ABSTRACT Objective Is there any association detectable between communication and trust in the aviation maintenance sector? Background Effective communication can have a positive contribution to safety in the aviation maintenance industry. In concert with trust, communication can also influence the detection of failures during the practice of maintenance in a civil and military aviation environment. Method This study explores the association between three factors: communication satisfaction, interpersonal trust and trust toward aviation maintenance maintenance software. To this end, a survey was conducted to diverse set of aviation maintenance professionals. A quantitative analysis was performed on the data collected, to identify possible interrelations among the three factors examined. Results For managers and subordinates, results showed that a substantial proportion of their communication satisfaction was explained by their levels of interpersonal trust. Differences in the communication satisfaction and software trust, between military and civil employees were also observed. The results of civil employees exhibit higher mean scores than that of military for all three factors. Overall, communication satisfaction was found to have a stronger association with interpersonal than with software trust. The mean scores of communication satisfaction and interpersonal trust increased across various levels of experience, with the differences between less and more experienced employees being statistically significant. Conclusion This study identifies a positive association between communication and trust in aviation maintenance.