Pilot fatigue – a new report reveals safety management deficiencies

29.08.2023 - 08:56 / traveldailynews.com / Tatiana Rokou

The report indicates a gradual accumulation of fatigue within cockpit environments preceding the summer peak season. Among pilots, 75% encountered instances of microsleep during aircraft operations in the last four weeks.

Microsleeps in the cockpit, insufficient rest opportunities to prevent cumulative fatigue, extending flight duties beyond the legal maximum: a newly released report paints a poor picture of fatigue risk management in European aviation. The report, ‘A fatigue survey of European Pilots’ by the aviation safety management consultancy Baines Simmons, analyses the responses from nearly 6.900 European pilots from 31 countries. The report identifies not only significant indicators of fatigue ahead of the busy summer period, but also structural shortcomings in how European airlines manage their fatigue risk. Airlines under the safety oversight of several countries – in particular Ireland, Malta, Spain, and the UK – stand out as the worst performers on many of the aspects covered by the report.

Based on data collected in July, the report shows that fatigue was building up in the cockpits already ahead of the summer peak season. 3 out of 4 pilots experienced at least one microsleep whilst operating an aircraft in the past 4 weeks – and one quarter reported 5 or more microsleeps. Furthermore, 72.9% of pilots reported having insufficient rest to allow them to recover from fatigue between duties. In addition, the report reveals a concerning trend of flight duty extensions, with nearly one in five pilots using Commander’s Discretion (CD) to extend flight duties twice or more within the past four weeks. Moreover, over 60% of pilots expressed varying degrees of concern about potential negative consequences if they were to refuse to extend a flight duty under CD.

“These are worrying signs and clear indications that fatigue safety risks are not well managed in many European airlines,” says ECA President Otjan de Bruijn.

The Baines Simmons report comes out just two months after the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) warned about the risk of increased aircrew fatigue during the summer and called upon airlines to plan with sufficient buffers and to refrain from relying on the pilots to systematically extend maximum flight duties. However, the report’s findings point into a different reality.

“This is very concerning,” continues de Bruijn. “Especially, as the results cover a period before and at the very beginning of the peak of summer operations. If these are the results we are seeing already in June and July, fatigue levels in August can have gone only one way – upwards!”

The report also shows another, more structural dimension, which is present not just during the summer operations: “The data […]