ABSTRACT
While the health of airline pilots is crucial to ensuring the safe travel of millions of people worldwide, they remain vulnerable to a variety of health challenges due to the nature of their job. The purpose of this narrative review is to provide a comprehensive summary of the most common health issues experienced by commercial airline pilots. By examining the published literature on this topic, we sought to identify areas where further research is needed to understand better the health risks associated with being a pilot and to develop effective interventions to address these risks. We also highlight how recent technological advances in digital health can be leveraged to conduct research into the potential usefulness of telehealth assessments for identifying occupational hazards in the aviation sector and providing targeted interventions. Overall, addressing the challenges of taking care of pilots' health and ensuring public safety will require a collaborative effort among airlines, governments, and regulators. Prioritizing pilot health and safety can actually improve profitability in the aviation sector by reducing costs associated with absenteeism, turnover, and accidents.
ABSTRACT
Aviation is undeniably one of the fastest-growing industries worldwide (ICAO, 2022). Analysts predict that despite a brief―yet considerable―pause, brought on by COVID-19 (Gao, 2022;IATA, 2022), global aviation traffic is increasing and will possibly threefold in the next 30 years (Gössling & Humpe, 2020;ICAO, 2023). Furthermore, this tremendous increase in air travel will also trigger a considerable need for personnel and will unavoidably lead to a significant shortage of pilots which has been forecasted by many sources in the past (Bennett & Vijaygopal, 2021;Champ, 2022;Meredith, 2019;Moehle & Clauss, 2015;Rice et al., 2014). Specifically, trends showed that the world will be lacking approximately 800,000 pilots by the year 2037 (Caraway, 2020). Put another way, the demand for airline pilots is going to outweigh the supply by far. Unfortunately, the high entry cost of new pilots to the industry and the relatively low salaries are averting a quick fix to this problem (Lutte, 2014) © 2022, International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace.All Rights Reserved.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the military and airline pilots' Job Satisfaction (JS), and identify important contributory factors to support the development of future mitigating strategies. Background: The aviation industry has undergone a series of devastating changes since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nonetheless, the implications of the pandemic on pilots' JS are unknown. Methods: Quantitative JS measurements were taken from 203 European and Middle Eastern pilots, during the pandemic (March, 2021), using the shortened Job Descriptive Index and Job In General validated scales. Follow-up semi-structured interviews (April 2021) were conducted with 16 participants to establish pre-pandemic JS levels and identify the degree of change due to COVID-19. Results: Significant JS differences (p < .001) were observed between military and airline pilots;the former having higher levels. Qualitative findings revealed that airline pilots' levels decreased due to factors such as job security, pay cuts, opportunities for promotion and skill-fade concerns. Military pilots experienced an increased JS, as state-funded organizations were not substantially affected by COVID-19, which led to a feeling of appreciation and thankfulness. Conclusion: COVID-19 has caused a major disruption to JS of military and airline pilots. Suggested mitigation measures for the civil aviation sector comprised effective communication between pilots and managers to reduce the pandemic-induced job uncertainty. Solutions such as extra flight simulator sorties were recommended to tackle the skill-fade effect. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)
ABSTRACT
According to Safety Report 2020 published by International Air Transport Association (IATA), in 2020 a remarkable increment is seen in the number of unstable approaches. Professional pilots follow procedures thoroughly. They are not supposed to commit in PINC, except for emergency situations requiring them to do so. With the Covid-19 pandemic, it has gained importance to investigate and identify the underlying reasons for unstable approaches. Explanatory Sequential Design was employed to construct a better understanding of the issue. 2278 pilots from commercial airlines have completed the online survey consisting of demographic form, technical knowledge-scenario questions, and 20 items referring to psychosocial aspects. The results of the quantitative analysis informed the following data collection process. Pilots did not execute missed approach procedure even if stabilization criteria were not met and/or after having approach destabilized unintentionally, CRM instructors, corporate safety experts, managers of the training center and other subject matter experts participated in the semi-structured in-depth interviews. Overall findings implying possible psychological, social, cognitive, and environmental factors of unstable approach are grouped under 14 categories. This paper provides a psychosocial framework for pilots, airline operators, regulators, and other professionals to evaluate the incidence of unintentional unstable approaches profoundly. © 2022 The Author(s).
ABSTRACT
With the continuous impact of COVID-19, the task of the airline changes so rapidly that the pilots' estimation and allocation were needed. In this paper, a mathematical model for the pilots' allocation is established based on the real air fleet to estimate the pilots' demand and to arrange the flight tasks in the airline. This approach serves as an alternative for the human resource management in the air company for the long-term plan. The innovative contributions in this paper include: a) The pilots' allocation with the international long-distance flights and the domain short-distance flights were considered in this paper. b) The minimum number of pilots to finish the flights in an air company was estimated to support the air company's long-term plan. Additionally, a heuristic algorithm is developed to get an approximate resolution to the model with less time. Computational result is approximate to the theoretical results, which proved its effectiveness. © 2022 IEEE.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 has led to thousands of pilots being grounded, significantly impacting airline training and safety during operational recovery. Previous research has suggested that the airline safety climate has been negatively impacted during the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly because of borders closure and a sudden loss of revenue. This context led to thousands of pilots being furloughed or dismissed, increasing their stress and anxiety due to financial hardship and resource constraints. However, the influence of the pandemic on how pilots maintained their proficiency while stood down and how they kept engaged with the airline, and therefore the safety climate, has not yet been researched. Hence, this study sought to evaluate the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on grounded pilots. We evaluated the operational distractions caused by the pandemic, external stressors influencing motivation and morale towards work, and how this affected safety climate. A questionnaire study was conducted with 105 airline pilots who were grounded for longer than three months, requiring refresher training and then returned to operational flying. The research found that approximately half of the participants did not engage in any skill and knowledge upkeeping whilst grounded. COVID-19 measures restricted the access to training facilities for many participants, negatively influencing their motivation to skill-upkeeping. Uncertainty with sudden and indefinite grounding periods made it challenging to maintain engagement and motivation. Job-reattachment was further aggravated by the additional financial and personal stress. The pandemic led to distractions in effectively applying their skills to the job. Physical and mental health concerns were mentioned by many participants as a factor influencing their job performance. The study proposes recommendations for airlines to improve engagement of grounded pilots and pilots in isolation. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.
ABSTRACT
Mental health has always been a prominent public health concern, and it has become more important in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The mental health of airline pilots plays a significant role in their occupational health and overall performance. It is also vital for ensuring the safe operation of aircrafts. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the factors that may improve the mental health of pilots. This study investigates the relationship between proactive coping, perceived stress, social support, and mental health among airline pilots during China's regular prevention and control of COVID-19. Using a sample consisting of 285 Chinese commercial airline pilots, we tested a moderated mediation model to explore whether, how, and when proactive coping affects the mental health of pilots. The results show that proactive coping has a direct and positive effect on pilots' mental health, as well as an indirect effect on mental health through its influence on perceived stress. Social support was found to weaken the relationship between perceived stress and mental health. It also weakened the indirect relationship between proactive coping and mental health through perceived stress. These findings advance our understanding of the underlying mechanisms that affect the mental health of pilots. It also provides empirical evidence for effective mental health interventions for airline pilots during regular prevention and control of COVID-19.