Survey Reveals Fatigue, Organizational Issues Among European Carriers

Over 7,000 responding pilots note problems worse at low-cost carriers

A survey published by the London School of Economics and Political Science and Eurocontrol suggests that customer service may not be the only issue Europe’s low cost carriers face. Britain’s The Telegraph reports organizational support and fatigue were cited as the two biggest problems among low-cost carriers operating in Europe.

The survey, which originally began in February 2016 with the support of the European Commission, received responses from 7,239 pilots from 33 airlines operating across Europe. At the top of the list of concerns for low cost carrier pilots were “perceived organizational support,” which received the lowest score. The next greatest concern was “fatigue,” followed by “staff equipment.”

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) defines fatigue as a state or reduced alertness resulting “..from sleep loss or extended wakefulness, circadian phase, or workload (mental and/or physical activity).” Earlier in 2016, pilots flying for FlyDubai expressed concerns that they were being overworked, resulting in crew fatigue. In addition, those attitudes changed depending on which type of airline they were flying for, as well as their individual contract with the airline.

“[These connection] needs to be considered carefully,” the study concluded. “In light of the fact that more of these types of contracts and business models may be used in the future as competition increases.”

At major “network” airlines in Europe, pilots expressed similar concerns, but were not as great as those working at low-cost carriers. The pilots at those airlines rated their experiences with fatigue at the median level between “least positive” and “most positive,” while ranking “perceived organizational support” their biggest concern.

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