Monitoring the Effectiveness of Fatigue Risk Management: A Survey of Pilots' Concerns.

INTRODUCTION: Airlines are required to monitor the effectiveness of their pilot fatigue risk management. The present survey sought the views of all pilots at Delta Air Lines on fatigue-related issues raised by their colleagues participating in regular airline safety audits.

METHODS: All 13,217 pilots from 9 aircraft fleets were invited to participate in an anonymous online survey. Questions related to aspects of scheduling, fatigue mitigations, and fatigue safety culture.

RESULTS: There were 1108 pilots who completed the survey (response rate = 8.4%). On 7/9 fleets, most pilots thought 5- to 7-d rotations were too long (exceptions: B747, median = 14 d; A330 median = 8.5 d). In the previous year, on average across all fleets, 60.6% of pilots had worked up to or beyond their personal rotation limit (minimum, B747 = 6.3%; maximum, MD88/90 = 75.9%). Rotations where duty periods start progressively earlier were considered highly fatiguing by 73.8% of pilots, compared to 14.7% for rotations where duty periods started progressively later and 1.6% for rotations with successive duty periods starting at the same time. The median optimum break length between rotations was 3-4 d. On 7/9 fleets, fewer than 20% of pilots tried to build their monthly schedules with back-to-back rotations (exceptions: B747, 43.8%; A330, 34.3%). Awareness of fatigue and perceptions of company fatigue risk management activities varied widely among fleets.

DISCUSSION: The findings identify possible improvements in fatigue risk management and highlight that care is needed when extrapolating from one operational context to another. As a safety assurance exercise, we recommend repeating the survey biannually, or sooner if warranted by specific circumstances.Gander P, Mangie J, Phillips A, Santos-Fernandez E, Wu LJ. Monitoring the effectiveness of fatigue risk management: a survey of pilots' concerns. Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2018; 89(10):889-895.