Abstract
The research aims at determining the precursor to fatigue or burnout among airline pilots. This study’s objectives are to identify cognitive overload and various mindful preventions. Furthermore, the provision of significant interventions will help reduce fatigue in the aviation industry. The selected participants are from commercial airlines who have been in the industry for more than three years and are full-time employees within the sector they have been assigned. The interview will collect data regarding the perception of fatigue; it will also consist of socio-demographic data, including age, gender, professional experience, and job status. The research will focus on the perception of commercial airline pilots regarding burnout, as it is impossible to help people without understanding their perceptions. The instrument used is a semi-structured interview that will assess the signs of burnout, experience prior to burnout, potential causes, and perception vs. statistics. Qualitative data from the interview will be analyzed using the Microsoft Excel application. The results of this proposal would aim to help managers appreciate and understand experienced precursors to burnout.
The data obtained made it possible to conclude the awareness of the problem of fatigue by pilots, its impact on their health, and the need for algorithmic assistance. Most pilots associate the problem of fatigue with mental suffering, demotivation, and pain throughout the body. An unstable mental state interferes with the work of the brain, which affects the performance of everyday work tasks that require attention and concentration. Many do not turn to the crew for help, relying on official mechanisms for reporting fatigue. Usually, pilots rest under control, but this is not enough, especially for mental activity.
Introduction
Studying the issue of fatigue among airline pilots is vital since the problem poses a significant risk to safety in the aviation industry. Every year the number of flights performed keeps increasing. In 2004, there were 23.8 million flights performed by the global airline industry, whereas in 2020 (pre-pandemic period), the number had risen to 40.3 million (Mazareanu, 2021). The fatigue reports are increasing, especially since COVID-19 started to spread worldwide and intervene in workers of various industries (Wilson et al., 2021). The pandemic has led to additional work stress factors, causing an increase in fatigue levels. These factors include the inability for a crew to leave outstation hotels, irregular schedule, flight cancellations, last-minute additional flying, country entry restrictions, increased crew testing requirements, and others.
Over the past 15-20 years, the profession of a pilot in college and university has remained popular; that is, there is a great demand in the labor market for pilots. Many young, ambitious people with good physical preparation and endurance started training in this area. Nevertheless, many were later disappointed, realizing the incompatibility of wages with the level of responsibility, high requirements, and standards (MacIntyre et al., 2021). Many young specialists noted the severity of ordinary working days, where stress was not a situational but a permanent one.
Before analyzing and researching fatigue in aviation, one should acknowledge the psychological definition of fatigue. ICAO (2015) defines fatigue as a “physiological state of reduced mental or physical performance capability resulting from sleep loss, extended wakefulness, circadian phase, and workload (mental and physical activity) that can impair a person’s alertness, and ability to perform safety-related operational duties” (p. xiii). Thus, although the aviation industry provides one of the safest travel methods, pilots’ and crew members’ fatigue can cause accidents and incidents (ICAO, 2015). The most threatening feature of fatigue is that it is inevitable because of brain activity: “The brain goes “off-line” to sort and store the day’s experiences and replenish essential systems depleted by waking activities” (ICAO,2015, p. 24). provides an overview of the various approaches to fatigue management in the aviation industry, emphasizing the role of such fatigue grounds as the need for adequate sleep, daily rhythms, and workloads.
MacIntyre et al. (2021) conducted a cross-sectional survey of preventive behaviors in adults (people more than 18 years old) in five cities in Australia, the U.K., and the USA. According to MacIntyre et al. (2021), “pandemic fatigue was more common in younger people” (p. 199). Although aircraft crew contains younger and older members, a study should further examine how pandemic restrictions influenced the growth of fatigue in pilots’ behaviors and the general population.
Morgul et al. (2020) questioned 4,700 people to define factors influencing psychological fatigue in Istanbul, Turkey. Only 35.9% were declared to be psychologically normal (Morgul et al., 2020); “age, educational level, occupational status, place of residence and number of family members” impact the mental fatigue of a person (Morgul et al., 2020, p. 128). Morgul et al. (2020) argued that: “Normal participants generally showed more positive attitudes than the fatigued in believing that COVID-19 will finally be controlled, satisfaction with preventive measures taken by the authorities, reporting suspected cases with symptoms, and trusting that Turkey can overcome the COVID-19 pandemic” (p. 128). Other studies show that pilots do not receive enough attention due to psychological exhaustion (Dias et al., 2019: Wilson et al., 2021).
At the same time, the psychological aspect of examining the condition of pilots often suffers for the sake of a physical examination. At companies of civil aviation, doctors want to convict that the pilots have good eyesight and that there are no problems with the cardiovascular system and lungs. Most pilots experience severe problems with chronic fatigue, but not everyone discusses this with their bosses and colleagues (Guo et al., 2022). Moreover, not everyone decides to seek help from a doctor, especially regarding mental problems. Pilot health screenings usually demonstrate a mechanical attitude towards pilots who, if they show average physical results, are exactly right for an instant start.
Because of commercial airline pilots’ challenges, cognitive overload is a significant factor in the aviation industry. It is a vital factor because it influences the performance of the pilots, increasing the chances of mistakes that can cause deadly accidents (Biondi et al., 2020). Pilots taking long shifts are prone to this effect because of flight conditions (MARTINS, 2016). The commercial airline can check on the pilots’ subjective, performance-based, and physiological disorders to identify mental overload.
There are various causes of fatigue that researchers have identified. Sleep loss is among the primary factors leading to fatigue, as individuals must have a minimum of 7 to 8 hours of sleep (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). Extended wakefulness promotes pressure toward sleeping, resulting in fatigue (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). As pilots continue to work without sleep for long hours, there comes a time when the sleep pressure reduces below certain levels leading to wakefulness that affect their performance as they become prone to erroneous decisions.
The rationale for this study pertains to the potential benefits of alertness prediction among pilots and crew members are increasing work efficiency and decreasing a possible threat. Previous studies on pilots’ fatigue provided a ground for this research. In other words, many studies uncovered underlying causes of mental fatigue: lack of sleep, anxiety, workload, and others (David-Cooper, 2020; O’Hagan, 2018). Senol and Acar (2020) conducted research studying the causes of the Air France Flight 447 Crash in 2009 and came up with a conclusion that “the captain might have had problems with fatigue management before the flight” (p. 196).
Literature Review
Causes of Fatigue in Pilots
Several daily life factors are associated with fatigue, such as diet, physical fitness, stresses, and cognitive overload. Pilots experience different fatigue levels because of the variance in their lifestyle factors that influence its severity, longevity, and short- and long-term impact. Based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) (2020) definition of fatigue, its leading causes include sleep loss, extended wakefulness, the circadian phase, and pilots’ workload.
Regarding sleep, the optimal duration can vary between individuals, while adults are recommended to sleep between seven to eight hours (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). Notably, the amount of sleep during the previous twenty-four hours was an independent threatening and error management factor in a high-fidelity simulator for Boeing 747-400 (Bourgeois-Bougrine, 2020). The amount of sleep is a significant factor in predicting self-rated fatigue and mean response speed after international flight sectors.
The loss of sleep may be acute, which is represented by an individual having no sleep at all for more extended periods (i.e., sleep deprivation), and chronic, which entails cutting down the time of rest at night by one and more hours (i.e., sleep restriction) (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). In commercial pilots, it was found that the sample group slept less than six hours per night (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). One of the most severe problems that arise from lack of sleep is the deterioration of the brain and the general decline in cognitive abilities. Many people, especially at a young age, risk healthy sleep to improve skills and productivity. Still, usually, the psyche does not allow this lifestyle to be practiced for many years. As interviews later showed, there is an increased risk of infectious diseases in chronic sleep deprivation, and pilots demonstrated this in their case studies with sinus problems (Hilditch & Flynn-Evans, 2022). Lack of sleep negatively affects biorhythms, impairs the functioning of the immune system, and does not allow people to finally cope with seasonal diseases, which are usually treated quickly.
Without proper sleep, people become forgetful and cannot concentrate on one thing. It is due to the brain’s work, which is repeatedly limited without rest. Memory works not due to constant repetitions but repetitions with interruptions when the same information or the same action must be returned at irregular intervals (Kandera, 2019). Concentration and forgetfulness intersect, and the absence of the former necessarily leads to the lack of the other.
Losing the possibility of a full sleep, people often become irritable for no reason, as their nervous system is constantly forced to be in an active state. Such people often have mood swings, talking about the instability of the nervous system and brain function (Irfan et al., 2021). When it comes to extended wakefulness, the time that pilots stay awake is likely to influence their drive for sleep (Hilditch & Flynn-Evans, 2022). This is linked to a homeostatic process, in which a rising time spent awake is followed by rising sleep pressure (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). An individual becomes sleepy, with the pressure to get some sleep increasing above a specific threshold. Notably, flight teams that spend longer awake make 40% more mistakes than those with shorter time since awakening (ICAO, 2020).
The extent of the workload is represented by both physical and mental activity, which includes the nature and the amount of work to be completed, any time constraints, and other factors associated with individuals’ performance capacity (ICAO, 2020). The high and low-intensity workload situations can result in lower performance, referred to as active and passive fatigue (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). The circadian clock represents a neural mechanism monitoring the day and night cycle through ocular light input, thus determining the preference for sleeping at night. The window of circadian low denotes the time during the day when both sleepiness and fatigue are the highest, which means that individuals are the least effective at performing tasks during it; it usually takes place between 2 and 6 AM (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021; Gates et al., 2018).
Ways to Detect Fatigue in Pilots
There are several ways and strategies aimed at detecting fatigue. Objective neurophysical methods, such as electroencephalography (EEG), electrooculography (EOG), and electrocardiography (ECG), as well as movement-based methods, have been used for identifying the extent of fatigue of professionals in the transport industry (Hu & Lodewijks, 2020; Zielinski et al., 2019). Another promising approach includes speech analysis, which has been essential for detecting slight voice pattern changesâusing photoplethysmogram sensors installed in pilots’ aviation headsets to identify heart rate changes.
Video-based solutions have been implemented for measuring fatigue in pilots as it has been suggested that the signs of drowsiness can be recognized from video footage. Such signs as repeated yawning, tearing eyes, head inclinations, and eye closures have been identified using high-speed cameras that detect both early symptoms of fatigue and its occurrence (Hu & Lodewijks, 2020; Venus et al., 2022). The location and tracking of individuals’ mouth movements using various classifiers such as Support Vector Machine or Artificial Neural Networks have been feasible for detecting both alert and fatigued states (Hu & Lodewijks, 2020).
To manage burnout and fatigue, it is necessary to highlight an objective perception so as not to mix it with personally colored moments, hopes, and disappointments. In addition, some burnout and fatigue factors cannot be measured or objectively expressed in words, numbers, or graphs (Wu et al., 2018; O’Hagan, 2018). It is crucial to concentrate on objective perception to develop a single model and algorithm for avoiding the problem under consideration.
Strategies and Recommendations for Fatigue Management
Pilots must mindfully prevent burnout and fatigue using modern technology and exercise opportunities. Pilots are responsible for their own health and the safety of the crew and passengers. On some flights, the number of passengers can reach several hundred, so the responsibility and risk are very high. Awareness, commitment, and teamwork are vital for most pilots who want to perform their tasks with high quality. In addition, they can enlist their colleagues and superiors to help, as teamwork will help with less burden of responsibility on each person to save the situation. Pilots are constantly required to be alert and have a very high level of awareness, which can be physically and psychologically exhausting (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). However, only mindful prevention and understanding of the severity of the issue can help pilots and their teams avoid burnout and fatigue in the early stages.
Researchers have explored the available fatigue management (F.M.) techniques to provide a framework that airline personnel can use for addressing the adverse implications of fatigue. The first framework was the Aero Medical Association of the U.S. resolution that lowered the maximum number of flying hours to 85 a month, which was the first step to the prescriptive approach (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). The “Fatigue Management” approach additionally included the management of fatigue-associated risks by airline operators in the Safety Management System.
To be approved for having an alternative flight time limitation, airlines are required to conduct an estimation of the degree of fatigue-associated risks in pilots’ operations, provide an explanation of appropriate management techniques for their mitigation, and monitor fatigue measurements consistently, including any related risks (Wu et al., 2018). To make accurate estimations of fatigue-associated risks to safety, airlines are expected to use fatigue and sleep modeling tools. At the same time, depending on the direction of the work, pilots cannot follow the same prescriptions; and they have different FTL breakdowns and have their own SOPs.
Finally, taking chronobiotics can be a fatigue management strategy for pilots struggling with sleep and rest schedules (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). A pilot may be prescribed to take melatonin to shift the cardiac rhythms, delaying it when taken in the morning or advancing it in the afternoon (Madari et al., 2021). However, from frequent use of drugs, psychological dependence can develop, characterized by a mania for a drug search, lethargy without it, and behavioral disorders. In the profession of pilots, motivation during the performance of tasks is critical; however, with addiction, people usually feel genuine reason only to find and take medicine. In addition to behavioral changes, there are cognitive impairments that interfere with the performance of basic tasks associated with concentration and attention and require intense memory work. Only aviation-certified doctors can prescribe drugs to maintain vigor and other medicines. Melatonin can act as a weak hypnotic, thus helping to improve the onset latency of sleep and the total sleep time.
Summary
To summarize the literature review, it should be noted that fatigue remains a crucial risk to safety in civil aviation. Pilots who experience fatigue are likely to suffer from it due to sleep loss, extended time spent awake, an extreme workload, and disruptions in circadian rhythm. While there are ICAO and EASA regulations intended to limit the time pilots spend during flights and suggest recommendations for optimal rest times, not all adverse effects of fatigue can be mitigated.
The combination of adequate scheduling and good sleep hygiene represents the critical recommendation for managing fatigue risks among pilots. Since the aviation field is quite demanding in terms of its professionals having to perform strenuous physical and cognitive activities, individuals must get enough restoring sleep and adhere to a schedule. Careful research should be carried out not only with pilots, but with all aviation staff. Besides, the airline industry has changed significantly since COVID-19, with cabin crew having to face other challenges and balance them with fatigue.
Research Question
The research aims at determining the precursor to fatigue or burnout among airline pilots. This study’s objectives are to identify cognitive overload and various mindful preventions. Furthermore, the provision of significant interventions will help reduce fatigue in the aviation industry. Investigators study the question: precursors to fatigue from the pilot’s perspective. Is there a positive relationship between flying and fatigue? This research also tries to find out various perceived signs to detect burnout.
Method
Design
The study uses qualitative design to clarify the issue of fatigue and burnout in civil aviation pilots in the Middle East. The author considers aspects of fatigue in the context of neurophysiology and psychology on the examples of one group of interviewees whose task was to describe their unique experiences. Further research will help clarify the relationship between fatigue and burnout. A high-quality design with a careful collection of unique information will reveal the minor signs of burnout and fatigue of pilots in the workplace. The data obtained can be applied to other professions associated with mental and physical labor, high responsibility, and risks. Qualitative design helps to identify the roots of the problem and causes and make assumptions about its solution.
Participants
The study involved nine pilots, and the author determined this number of interviewees due to restrictions during the COVID-19 period. The study’s author preferred those pilots with work experience to talk about burnout and fatigue factors. Initially, it was planned to use simple random sampling to select participants, but later the author leaned towards the correctness of network sampling (Heckathorn & Cameron, 2017). Such a sample allows different investigators to quickly find respondents for an interview, having initially a minimum number of participants. Like a snowball, such a sample grows by getting to know and observing people around those participants who were originally in the sample. In the author’s case, experienced pilots more often communicated with the same adults and experienced colleagues, and not with newcomers in this field. Newbie pilots could not fully explain the fatigue problem based on their expertise (Flynn-Evans et al., 2019).
In addition to the unique experience, the author assumed that the participants would not only rely on their own opinions and perceptions but be able to refer to the experience of their colleagues. Participants accepted the study voluntarily and without co-payment. Once the participants had given their consent to the investigation and proceeded with the interview, the researcher gave them all the information, including privacy rules and the purpose of the study (see Appendix for consents forms/Appendix E. The pilots had time to ask any queries and ensure their privacy if they wished.
Possibly, such a sample (of nine people) is not representative; however, given the study’s design, it shows the possible aspects and factors of burnout and fatigue. A representative sample in the study would help to obtain reliable results, tested not on a small group of people but a mass of representatives of the profession. With a more prominent (representative) sample, one could confidently assert the findings (Rana, 2022). The small sample size was convenient, not only due to compliance with COVID-19 restrictions but because the interview of nine people did not require much time (Mazareanu 2021). Other large-sample studies would require more time or a larger group of interviewers.
Equipment
Several types of equipment were used to collect data from pilots regarding burnout and fatigue in the workplace. For the interviews, the pilots and the researcher used the Zoom Pro applications to cut down on face-to-face meetings. The researcher made parallel audio recordings during the interview to subject the recording to a careful analysis. Based on these audio recordings, transcripts were created containing detailed information about the discussion from the moment of greeting and introduction of the pilot to the pilot’s farewell to the researcher. Based on transcripts and interviews, in general, after the analytics, a particular summary document was created, split into topics of each pilot’s discussion. The summary document contained nine pages, with one page for each pilot, respectively, and each page was divided into three parts according to topic blocks.
The study was based on a semi-structured interview, considered ideal for this topic (see Appendix D). The pilots were not constrained by the framework of dialogue and answering questions and could give such comments as they considered essential (Interview preparation & selection methods, n.d). They could show imagination, tell a specific case from practice, or actively express protest, dissatisfaction, or emotion. The data was compiled using Microsoft Excel since the tabular form made it easy to view and comprehend to a broad audience.
Procedure
Interviews were conducted remotely with civil airline pilots, and privacy issues and the purpose of the study were discussed with the pilots beforehand; in addition, information sheet was shared. Understanding the purpose of the study made it easier for them to share their experience, as they knew where they should emphasize. The pre-interview briefing took several minutes due to the interview method, which left a lot of freedom for the interviewees to construct responses.
After remote communication, the data was preserved in the author’s notes and audio format. Debrief sheets were sent to the participants. The original letters and audio were later compiled into a Microsoft Excel document and transcript. After the formation of nine transcripts, it was possible to form a summary of the blocks-themes that the author required from the pilots: the definition of fatigue, perception/experience, and modes of mitigation.
Results
As a result of the study, nine pilots were interviewed to understand how aviation professionals define the issue of fatigue and what assumptions they can make to reduce the impact of fatigue on flights. The interview took place in a calm atmosphere, and it was essential that the interviewees did not experience stress and were not anxious at the time of the conversation. The disturbing background would have spoiled the study’s results since the pilots would have focused their attention on those aspects that worried them at that moment and would have been too biased (Dursun, 2021). In the ideal design of the study, the participants had to rely during interviews not only on their unique personal and professional experience but on the experience of their colleagues, superiors, and subordinates.
First, the interviewees introduced themselves and briefly described their experience in the field of civil aviation. Then the pilots answered questions that targeted fatigue in aviation, perception, and mindful prevention with clarifications. Since the interview questions were open-ended, they provided many opportunities for the pilots to showcase their experiences and opinions. They could assume and share their concerns and thoughts, especially since the wording of the questions, free and relaxed, not strict, allowed them to do this.
The interview did not involve psychological counseling, so the author tried to capture as much information as possible from the pilots through the questions asked. Discussions of opportunities for psychological counseling presented itself; however, this was not the aim of the study. Secondly, this kind of support requires a different type of dialogue and a different literary preparation (Alaminos-Torres et al., 2021). These considerations can serve as a foundation for further research in ergonomics, neurophysiology, and psychology.
At the beginning of the interview, there were concerns that it would be difficult to put the pilots’ feelings of fatigue into words. Like other professionals working in challenging environments, pilots could describe fatigue and burnout in abstract terms, the fullness and meaning of which varied from person to person (Douglas & Pittenger, 2020). However, most pilots cited long-term tiredness as the foundation of fatigue (see Appendix A). Participant #1 answered: âIt is basically a long-term tiredness and stress the reach you gradually without you realizing how tired you areâ. This fatigue could be accompanied by body pain, demotivation, or a generally negative mood at work or before the flight.
Long-term tiredness for such specialists becomes a habit over time, and they ignore their condition. Participants responded that people around can notice mood swings in pilots, sudden joy, and irritability replacing it. Such people are sometimes aggressive towards their relatives and children, which offends others. Aggression and mood swings are replaced by a general depressive and sad state in which a person is wholly demotivated to work (Wilson et al., 2021). Without relaxing either physically or mentally, such people, as the pilots noted, cannot sleep (Gates et al., 2018). Despite wanting to sleep, their bodies cannot relax and enter their first sleep phase (Dias et al., 2019). The brain does not turn off and does not put a person to sleep, forcing him, at best, to remain in slumber (Pellegrino & Marqueze, 2019). As experts know, drowsiness does not allow the body to recover fully.
Due to cognitive overload, which underlies long-term fatigue, 30% of pilots believe that mental deterioration is possible. Pilots in such situations describe themselves as very slow, negatively affecting the quality of work and increasing the risks for the crew and passengers (Lee & Kim, 2018). The pilots vividly described their mental state as unstable, and demotivation prevails (for the correlation of concepts in the definitions of pilots, see Appendix A). One person in an interview said that it was through forgetfulness that he determined the problem of fatigue. What must be kept in the head for a long time disappears from memory (Martin et al., 2018). Often such pilots have to turn to colleagues for help many times to get a reminder from them.
Experience with the consequences of fatigue and burnout is hazardous for the pilot, passengers, and crew. A lot of pilots in interviews paid attention to the fact that they began to make mistakes more often if they felt tired (see Appendix B). These errors were related to decision-making and analytics of the situation in the sky. Here, the dependence on fatigue and brain function is demonstrated. The parts of the brain involved in decision-making and analytical work suffer the most when overloaded (Salas et al., 2017). Pilots must rely on the force of habit and the abilities they managed to get in many hours of training (Bennett, 2018). During the interviews, many pilots described physical pain as a result of fatigue. They experienced sinus problems and back pain. Physical pain, as a rule, only worsens human irritability, and pilots paid serious attention to this. After a poor quality or short rest, the pilots returned to work without having time to rid themselves of these pains.
One of the pilots emphasized several times that fatigue slows down his brain. He described it as slow decision-making, lack of motivation to work, and an inability to multitask. Pilots must often pay attention to many aspects of aircraft control and passenger safety. However, this becomes problematic and sometimes impossible, even due to overexertion and fatigue. Pilots must constantly communicate quickly with the crew members so that inattention can slow down the work of a group of people (Stokes & Kite, 2017). Pilots noted the experience of migraines, prolonged headaches, and dizziness.
Regarding mitigation, most pilots have developed algorithms to help them deal with fatigue. These algorithms, like writing fatigue reports and using caffeine, are not a panacea and do not negate the importance of rest, but they help streamline work during difficult periods. Pilots have described controlled rest as the primary mitigation mode (see Appendix C). Pilots trust this method, while at the same time, this kind of mitigation allows them to stay in the work context while not overloading the body and brain (Göker, 2018). Almost all pilots noted the need for rest and sleep; therefore, sleep hygiene is an essential mitigation mechanism that cannot be ignored (Hilditch & Flynn-Evans, 2022). Some pilots emphasized the importance of a consistently healthy lifestyle. Four pilots interviewed should consider healthy eating, jogging, and exercise as an integral part of the life of a responsible pilot. This opinion may be especially popular with army pilots, but civil aviation pilots express similar intentions. About half of the pilots surveyed followed these intentions to the end. Still, the rest did not consider it essential or did not consider it necessary to voice it during interviews.
Along with a healthy diet and lifestyle, some pilots, however a minority, indicated a need for water consumption. Consistent hydration helps them stay alert and not lose speed when working and making decisions (Wilson et al., 2022a). In addition, only one pilot mentioned the importance of maintaining good relations and regular communication with the team (Omholt et al., 2016). The crew must be aware of all the moments of instability in the pilot’s health, whether it be physical pain or anxiety, depression, or a sense of tension (Venus & Holtforth, 2022). It is necessary to fearlessly speak to the crew about these problems to make the right decision together during the flight when the lives of passengers may be in danger. Few pilots mentioned the usual weekend, which should be several after the flight, not just one. Investigators can assume that many pilots take such days off as a matter of course after the flights. They did not mention it because they were concentrating on specific mitigation techniques.
Some pilots have indicated that they resort to the help of pills and sleeping pills to stabilize their sleep. Participant #6 responded: âI take some supplements to make my deep sleepâ. In particular, melatonin tablets help pilots cope with the problem of insomnia. As a result of the interview, one pilot expressed three-fold support: before, during, and after. Thus, the first two stages consist of rest, controlled by special equipment and colleagues during the flight. The third stage necessarily refers to everyday life, where pilots need life balance along with work. Uncontrolled involvement in the job with no rest and distraction to other issues is fraught with high anxiety, fears, insomnia, and other mental problems (Venus et al., 2022). During interviews, many pilots have pointed out the importance of caffeine in keeping them awake. However, sustained caffeine intake has its dangers, although the pilots do not realize this, apparently.
Discussion
The results obtained during the interviews show that all pilots are familiar with the problem of fatigue and burnout, and they can accurately articulate pilots’ difficulties and suggest possible solutions. Unlike complex situational cases, after which pilots feel physically tired, the problem under consideration stands out due to the permanent lack of rest. Protracted physical fatigue and stress become a severe problem for the pilot and the entire crew, negatively affecting brain activity, vision, back pain, and other limbs; such fatigue can hurt communication between crew members.
Possibly, the specific methods of mitigation that the pilots offer are of paramount importance for the discussion. Most noteworthy are the pills and doses of caffeine taken by pilots that keep them alert (Meeusen & Roelands, 2017). Pilots and crew members typically take chronobiotics and melatonin tablets (Senol & Acar, 2020). In the interview, the pilots did not directly mention the problem of time zones they constantly face. However, chronobiotics are the vitamins that help them tune circadian rhythms. These internal body rhythms tune the brain to sleep and alertness at certain times of the day (Tran et al., 2020). Investigators can say that chronobiotics allow people to adjust the internal clock of each person by the time around him. It is an effective way to maintain healthy sleep with frequent jet lag.
Any medication taken by pilots must be closely monitored by their physicians or the crew’s physicians. An example of a chronobiotic is the European Mepiprazole, which has some characteristics of an antidepressant, not only primarily properties (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). Given this, Mepiprazole can be dangerous for pilots due to its side effects, including lethargy and drowsiness. Other drugs, such as Quiadone, which are chronobiotics, raised doubts in the medical community, so they were never released for whole consumption (Winter, 2020). At the moment, the least dangerous drug is the natural hormone melatonin. No valid and official studies clearly show the harm of continuous melatonin intake. When taking the hormone melatonin, a special diet is recommended, which may contain dietary tryptophan.
Caffeine is the most affordable and accessible way for pilots to get energized preflight and inflight. Caffeine rightly helps pilots achieve the desired effect and stay alert when they feel decreases in their physical and psychological strength. Caffeine speeds up the heart rate and pulse, but its danger may be hidden here since a long-lasting effect on the nervous and cardiovascular system harms it (Wilson et al., 2022b). It can lead to sweating, rapid breathing, and vast pupils.
The insidiousness of taking caffeine is that after an attack of vivacity, a person overtakes weakness and apathy since this effect is short-lived. Another adverse effect of caffeine may be insomnia or restless sleep with early awakening and nervousness (O’Hagan, 2018). Caffeine, in general, can often cause anxiety in people by stimulating the nervous system and causing it to tense up and be constantly alert. Insomnia in the case of piloting an aircraft can become a danger factor for the entire crew. About problems with insomnia or early awakening, the pilots are required to warn the authorities and the crew.
Chest pains in advanced stages can identify cardiovascular problems from frequent caffeine intake. Such pains can become a serious problem for the pilot at work when the responsibility is exceptionally high. It can be seen that caffeine does not contribute to finding a balance between rest and work; however, it allows pilots to feel more alert for a while. Another disadvantage of frequent caffeine consumption is dehydration; several pilots interviewed stated that to maintain an alert state, it is necessary to eat healthy food and constantly drink water. Dehydration is one of the problems pilots who use caffeine may face. In search of an alert effect, they consume caffeine and then drink plenty of water to compensate for the side effects of caffeine (Guo et al., 2022). Pilots spend time and energy trying to offset some of the consequences of mitigation with the help of others (David-Cooper, 2020). This waste of resources shows the high need for the civil aviation industry to develop algorithms to help pilots avoid fatigue.
In the case of defining fatigue, many pilots have mentioned the connection between fatigue and demotivation. In moments of extreme fatigue, almost all pilots experienced demotivation to continue working (Levin et al., 2019). This psychological exhaustion causes burnout and subsequent dismissal and departure from aviation in general (Koh et al., 2020). In such a state, feeling abandoned and helpless, a person needs support regardless of education and profession (Demerouti et al., 2018). Usually, such consent is not provided to pilots, as medical examinations entirely substitute it. Pilots are left alone with demotivation and do not know how to solve this problem. They become aggressive and irritable, and fatigue and lack of sleep only exacerbate their condition.
The danger of demotivation in aviation can be devoted to a separate in-depth study since the risk permeates this area in professional training. Demotivation is dangerous not only for pilots but for other crew members, as well as for engineers and mechanics. Aviation is entirely subject to requirements and strict standards, disobedience to which can turn into a disaster for tens and hundreds of people at least (ICAO, 2015). Demotivated workers do not usually pay due attention to safety and do not check meticulously for compliance with standards (Kar et al., 2021). Such workers show indifference to their duties, superiors, colleagues, and customers.
The strict standards mentioned above force pilots to keep much information in their heads, resulting in cognitive overload, which pilots refer to as the foundation of fatigue. Most people mistakenly believe modern technology makes pilots’ mental and physical work more manageable (Biondi et al., 2020). However, if the physical work becomes monotonous and negatively affects the back and eyes, the cognitive and mental load does not disappear (Oliver et al., 2017). Most pilots experience stress when flying an aircraft, as complex technology constantly demands them in terms of alertness and speed of reaction. Computers and monitors require constant monitoring and background work; therefore, cognitive overload is inevitable, although aviation continues introducing many new technologies into the pilots’ jobs almost every year.
Physical pain is almost the first place for many of the interviewed pilots as a manifestation of fatigue. Pilots complain of headaches, dizziness, weakness, and eye pain (which can reflect brain activity). Flights harm the joints, and pilots often experience back pain. In particular, constant tension and lack of rest lead to lower back pain. Lumbar pain and problems in this area are seriously related to the nerve endings. Stress seriously affects lower back pain, and aggressive behavior and irritability can exacerbate the inflammatory process (Cahill et al., 2021). Often, patients complaining of low back pain are caught in a cycle of stress (Cullen et al., 2021). Pressure and constant nervousness lead to muscle stiffness and rigidity. In turn, having learned about the problem and start to solve it, such people do not lose stress but only feel it more sharply, blaming themselves and experiencing intense frustration with their abilities.
Here it is crucial to mention the possibility of developing psychosomatic diseases. When pilots are experiencing severe stress at work or outside of work, their bodies can suffer physically (Zielinski et al., 2019). Due to high anxiety, pilots may feel excessive sweating and elevated temperature (often subfebrile temperature from 37 C to 37.5, less often up to 37.9). Psychosomatic pain includes pain in the abdomen and chest associated with breathing problems.
Suppressed emotions in such situations can contribute to the development of ulcers and problems with the liver and spleen. Among other diseases, vascular diseases are distinguished: infarction, stroke, angina pectoris, cardiac arrhythmia, nephrosclerosis, and spastic colitis. Suppressed anger contributes to the development of rheumatoid arthritis, urticaria, psoriasis, stomach ulcers, migraine, and hypertension, although it is not the only cause of these diseases (MacIntyre et al., 2021). In interviews, the pilots indicated frequent cases of migraine, which may be associated with general stress, depression, and demotivation.
In addition to problems with the body, pilots often notice errors in their work when they are under stress. Such errors are fraught with enormous risks for the crew and passengers (Kandera et al., 2019). To eliminate such errors, pilots conduct frequent training, which hones their skills to automatism. However, while some management skills can be brought to automatism, others remain beyond habit. Pilots must constantly keep their attention at a high level to avoid a disaster (Venus, 2021). The abundance of complex equipment in the cockpit can sometimes contribute to inattention since it confuses pilots at the physiological level (brain, eyes) and mental (fatigue, demotivation, and frustration) (Bendak & Rashid, 2020). In addition, such equipment is often costly for companies, so the slightest breakdown makes workers nervous. Usually, sleep hygiene helps to cope with an abundance of mistakes at work, but when stressed, it suffers in the first place.
Other manifestations of fatigue are slow decision-making and implementing basic work operations. Such slowness can result in severe risks for the crew, and usually, the staff must work quickly and coherently (Ekore et al., 2020). Soon the decision-making and the transfer of information from link to link should be exceptionally high (Park et al., 2020). As mentioned earlier, pilots can become irritable and aggressive towards colleagues and families when under stress. Problems in the family carry an additional risk when working as a pilot, as they are associated with anxiety.
Based on the previous, pilots need a well-developed algorithmic system for controlling emotions and rest. The lack of such a system, or its infrequent use, forces pilots to risk their health by taking large doses of caffeine for vigor (Martins, 2016). Controlled rest is the traditional way to help pilots during a challenging flight or nervous shift, and it is crucial to maintain high-level relationships with the crew and trust them.
If the pilots warn the crew that they are not feeling well (even if it is minor doubts), they can make a good decision about re-forming the team. The issue of sleep hygiene remains on the agenda for many pilots, but managing their brain activity at such a high level is considered very problematic. It is associated with high costs in terms of time and finances (drugs and psychotherapists, personal doctors) (Martinussen & Hunter, 2017). At the moment, specifically during participant interviews, many pilots believe that writing fatigue reports can be the key to fixing their condition (Irfan et al., 2021). Consequently, they and other staff can decide on assistance more quickly. Such fatigue reports can usually contain information about the pulse, hours spent sleeping, and the amount of water intake.
The research core of this experiment is the psychological theory of moral obligations. This theory separates the concepts of company profits and employee well-being, following the framework of humanistic psychology (Martinussen & Hunter, 2017). According to this theory, the talents and creativity of people and their development are central goals for company managers (Wingelaar-Jagt et al., 2021). It is a developed team, where there is no fear, unhealthy competition, and conflicts are resolved quickly with the help of coaches, that can attract young and ambitious employees in the future (Martinussen & Hunter, 2017). Being tired, pilots do not feel like valuable, necessary, and essential workers. For this reason, pilots tend to end their careers with incredible frustration at being unable to recuperate and maintain a balanced work-life lifestyle.
Limitations
The first limitation of the study is its sample size, albeit explained by restrictions from the measures against COVID-19. For an adequate study on the topic of fatigue, it is necessary to select samples of more than 11 people. To expand the sample, it is possible to include not only pilots from one commercial airline but across more commercial airlines in the study. In addition, the danger of COVID-19 lies in the fact that for pilots, the feeling of depression and oppression has worsened over the last years of the pandemic (Morgul et al., 2020). The study results are considered liquid, despite a small sample since each of the nine participants was interviewed following the rules. The results obtained cannot be distributed to the entire aviation industry, but other researchers or readers must consider them.
The pilots may not have had enough communication during the study time, so their results could be subject to a single logic. From resumes and transcripts, the author can see that some pilots bring up essential topics (dehydration and confidential communication with the crew, for example) that others usually forget entirely. It suggests that most pilots may have missed crucial points by reporting fatigue without preparation or warning (Teng et al., 2020). Therefore, the results obtained cannot be called serious contradictions; however, when drawing up diagrams and tables that should express the ratio of these fundamental phenomena and their degree of significance, the researcher experienced difficulties
One other limitation is the inability to factor in organizational mindfulness. While this research has gained insight into individual mindfulness, subjective and objective perceptions, it could form a much sharper image if it were to correlate its findings with collective mindfulness. Collective mindfulness is relevant in such contexts as it is about the ability of organizations to notice ‘weak signals’ of such pending crises and have the motivation and capacity to respond to what they notice. (Mehta et al.,2017) future research can look into modes of mitigation more deeply to include organizational mindfulness as part of the equation in reducing human error or predicting potential problems related to fatigue in the aviation field.
Possibly the pilots did not want to share the details of their work and emotions in front of the interviewer. Fear, shame, and an unwillingness to appear weak or not professional enough can be involved here. Some pilots paid increased attention to the fact that the author was taking notes and was embarrassed to express feelings directly under the record. A possible reason for such fears is job loss, and this fear has intensified among pilots with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic. The nervous pilots were now forced to discuss their weaknesses with the interviewer openly.
Conclusion
Fatigue among civil aviation pilots is widely discussed in the modern community of pilots and psychologists. Due to the importance of this topic and the lack of rest algorithms, it was essential to interview pilots who shared their precursors and perceptions of fatigue and burnout. All pilots indicated long-term, unrelenting tiredness that affects their mental state and body. The pilot associated fatigue with demotivation, loss of interest in work, and indifference to duties. Many interviewees noted that they become aggressive and irritable, having experienced serious stress; long work in a stressful environment slows down pilots’ response rates and blocks them from making timely decisions. Sometimes, basic work operations suffer since pilots cannot perform them out of habit. Many hours of training do not save them from stress. However, such training allows them to expand the list of skills that pilots can do on automatism.
Pilots feel dry mouth and lethargy. Once off duty, they realize they cannot fall asleep or sleep intermittently. Sometimes, they experience the problem of early anxious awakening, which reflects the lack of relaxation and constant tension. Relationships with colleagues and relatives can suffer from continuous stress levels at work, often leading to early burnout.
As for mitigation, pilots usually take chronobiotics (the natural hormone Melatonin) and sleeping pills. Due to jet lag and flights, they almost always experience problems with sleep; therefore, many specialists seriously depend on caffeine. However, frequent caffeine intake can be dangerous for pilots, even if their initial health scores are high. Excessive caffeine consumption is fraught with dehydration, chest pains, and severe migraines (which many pilots have reported).
Other common ways to mitigate the problem under discussion are writing fatigue reports and sleep hygiene. Writing fatigue reports allows pilots to quickly notify their superiors and crew about the risks caused by their fatigue. If the pilot does not get enough sleep, is stressed, feels anxious, and is irritable, he will indicate it in the system. Thus, colleagues see that his vigilance is currently reduced, and it is necessary to decide on support or reorganize the pilot team. Fatigue reports do not allow pilots to correct the issue in favor of their physical and mental health but only warn of existing risks to protect the crew and passengers. Working on sleep hygiene usually requires a lot of time and money, which is often acceptable in theory but not in practice. Usually, pilots do not want to visit psychotherapists, as there are faster ways to solve or delay their troubles.
Controlled rest during work remains a classic mitigation technique that pilots trust. The study, however, suggests that this type of mitigation implies a trusting relationship with the crew. The most important aspect of preventing disasters and risky situations is to warn pilots’ colleagues about the negative state. If it is not possible to do this officially in the system, then it is necessary to warn them verbally so that the team can start solving the problem.
The danger of constant stress in pilots lies in psychosomatic illnesses, which are responses to repressed emotions and ongoing tension. Such diseases can be ulcers, urticaria, psoriasis, and many others. Some people experience chest pains and headaches as psychosomatic, while others experience severe respiratory problems and complain of excessive sweating. Thus, there is no positive correlation between fatigue and pilot flying. For workers in this industry, there is only a danger to health, both physical and mental, with constant stress and pressure without rest. To prevent such issues in the future, it is necessary to create an algorithmic system of assistance and support for pilots during stress. It will save the aviation industry from staff turnover and make it more attractive for young, promising, and ambitious pilots who care not only about others but about themselves.
During the interview, the conversation was complicated by the reluctance of pilots to share specific problems during work. These fears may be caused by an unwillingness to lose a job or appear weak to colleagues and superiors. Concrete examples would help advance the research to a high level, as readers would understand how engineering technologies work when driven by demotivated, tired people. Among other things, pilots are well aware of the degree of their responsibility to passengers and crew, so they do not want to mention the difficulties they experience.
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Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
What is your rank?
- Captain
- First Officer
Which category includes your age?
- 25-34
- 35-44
How many years have you worked as an airline pilot?
- 5 to 10 years
- 10 or more
In your own words, how can you define fatigue? ________________________________________________
What are the symptoms you get when you are suffering from fatigue/burnout?_______________________________________
How can the risks of fatigue/burnout be managed at the workplace?______________________________________________
If any, what measure have you taken to prevent or eliminate fatigue/burnout?_________________________________________
Is there anything else would you like to add?______________________________________________________________
Semi-structured interview for the pilots.