An appraisal of happiness in civil aircrew

Abstract

Introduction: Commercial aviation is a unique occupation, where the professional responsibility to ensure the safety of the aircraft and its occupants lies with the pilot, making civil aviation a stressful and demanding job. Psychological fitness plays a crucial role in helping aircrew adapt to and deal with these occupational demands. In the past few years, the awareness and interest in mental health among civil aviators and the aviation industry have been on the rise. Happiness is characterized as a lasting state with positive emotions and life satisfaction. It is known to improve performance and reduce stress. Based on this, the main objective of this study was to conduct a survey to appreciate the level of happiness among civil aircrew. Material and Methods: A widely used scale for assessment of happiness called Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) was administered to both male and female civil aircrew (n = 100). OHQ is a 29-item self-reporting questionnaire. Internal consistency was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha which was found to be 0.97 on the current sample. Data collected were also studied to find a correlation between demographic variables and happiness index. Results: A mean score of 4.87 was obtained in the OHQ which indicated that the civil aircrew perceived themselves to be quite happy. No significant relationship was found between age, experience, marital status, and happiness scores. Conclusion: This was a unique survey in which civil pilots flying both domestic and international flights from India were assessed in terms of their happiness level as a measure of psychological well-being. The participants consisted of a total of 100 aircrew, consisting of 87 males and 13 females. The happiness index in this sample was found to be moderate to high. Most of them perceived their lives and work to be meaningful, which led to high motivation and increased performance. The results also revealed that flying hours of civil aircrew had no significant relationship to happiness level, further indicating that age and experience of the pilots did not predict their happiness, which was akin to a number of researches conducted on the general population. Although the aircrew were found to be moderately happy, the happiness level could still be increased. Small and modest actions by both the aircrew and the airline industry may make a big difference to the happiness state of aircrew.