Fatigue among European airline flight crews remains at critical levels and has seen practically no improvement since 2023. This is according to a report prepared by the aviation consultancy Baines Simmons and released by the European Pilots' Association, officially the European Cockpit Association (ECA), based on a survey of 7,200 pilots on the continent.
The document warns that 76.8% of the captains and first officers surveyed experienced at least one episode of microsleep in the cockpit while operating an aircraft during the four weeks prior to data collection. Likewise, 38.8% stated they had not regularly had sufficient rest to avoid accumulated fatigue.
Despite these figures, internal fatigue reporting systems continue to show low utilization. Only 37.2% of participants declared formally reporting themselves unfit to fly due to tiredness, while 24.2% admitted to operating without reporting. Among the reasons given, 38.2% cited fear of reprisals or disciplinary sanctions from their company's management, and 46.9% indicated concern about a negative reaction from their superiors.
Fatigue risk management receives worse ratings in low-cost companies and wet-lease operators (ACMI). By country, airlines with an air operator certificate (AOC) issued in Ireland and Malta rank lowest on most evaluated parameters, repeating the pattern from 2023. At the opposite end, Finland and the Netherlands lead in compliance and safety culture confidence indices.
The report also detects continued use of Commander's Discretion, a legal mechanism reserved for exceptionally extending flight time limits. 38.3% of pilots resorted to this instrument at least once in the last month, and 69.1% expressed concern about potential employment consequences if they refused to extend their duty (compared to 65.8% in 2023).
Both the ECA and the management of Baines Simmons have urged national aviation authorities and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to strengthen supervision of operators.
The publication of the study coincides with the development of the European strategy for intervention on aircrew fatigue (Best Intervention Strategy on Aircrew Fatigue), promoted by EASA, which in its own analyses already identifies fatigue as a factor present in nearly 60% of operational incidents recorded as precursors to safety incidents.
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