Abstract
Fatigue has been a long-standing concern in modern aviation. The duty hours of those who operate (cabin crew and pilots) have increased significantly. In order to combat the effects of fatigue, operators must adhere to Flight Time Limitations (FTLs) strictly set by regulatory bodies. With advances in the science of fatigue, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) in February 2016 altered the duty limits and rest periods. A quantitative self-report survey design using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests of association and probit regressions with marginal effect calculations gathered the crew perceptions about the impact of the FTL regulation change to fatigue levels, reporting and safety/just culture. Participants (n = 794) were commercial cabin crew and pilots operating under European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) regulations. 73.2% said they have not reported fatigue to their airline and 81.7% having operated fatigued. Scales on Fatigue Knowledge and Just/Safety Culture were constructed. Each point increase on the 6-item Just/Safety Culture scale shows that respondents are 8.6 percentage points less likely to operate fatigued. This study signifies that fatigue is under-reported and is a real risk to safety in the aviation industry. A substantial change to the existing safety culture should be encouraged and the fatigue’s safety implications should not be underestimated and safety be compromised for maximum aircraft and labour utilisation.
Highlights
Air travel has increased and airlines try to achieve unit cost savings by increasing the aircraft and labour utilisation (Efthymiou and Papa theodorou, 2018; O’Connell, 2011)
A relatively large portion of the sample were aware of changes made to Flight Duty Period (FDP) (63.4%), as well as being aware of the rest period (60.6%)
This 5-item scale (Knowledge of Flight Time Limitations (FTLs) – see Table 3) was used to measure perception of crew members of the impact of changes made to FTLs Subpart, which came into effect in February 2016, on safety, duties, alertness, sleep cycle and fatigue levels
Summary
Air travel has increased and airlines try to achieve unit cost savings by increasing the aircraft and labour utilisation (Efthymiou and Papa theodorou, 2018; O’Connell, 2011). This has resulted in heavier work loads and increased hours of duties for pilots and crew (Harris, 2011). Papatheodorou and Platis (2007) discussed the tort liability in the context of safety standards in the deregulated airline environment. They argued that the absence of tight safety regulation could lead to a compromise of safety standards. The number of fatigue related safety incidents has grown, with crew sighting fatigue and sleep loss as the causation of operational errors such as landing on incorrect runways or fuel miscalculations (Rosekind et al, 1994a; 1994b)
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