The report “Survey on the fatigue of European pilots” has asked pilots from 31 European countries about the management of the risks generated by fatigue in European aviation.
Only the pilots of the United Kingdom (72.0%) and Malta (66.5%) are more concerned than the Spanish pilots about the management of these risks by their airline. In Spain they are 63.1%.
At the other end of the ranking, the pilots from Switzerland (32.8%), the Netherlands (34.3%) and Austria (34.4%) had the lowest percentages of concern about this issue.
The study, carried out by the air safety management consultancy, Baines Simmons, analyzes the responses of almost 6,900 pilots from 31 European countries during the past month of July.
Sepla: "It is a serious warning to the Spanish aviation industry"
For the president of the Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (Sepla), Óscar Sanguino, “this European survey on pilot fatigue in the summer is a serious warning to the Spanish aviation industry.”
Sanguino points out that “there are airlines that operate in Spain that have not prepared, despite having been warned by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) to manage the risks of pilot fatigue in periods of high air activity such as summer and this may have affected air safety.”
In addition, the study shows that fatigue in Europe was already increasing in the cabins before the summer high season. 3 out of 4 European pilots experienced at least one microsleep while operating an aircraft in the last 4 weeks and a quarter reported 5 or more microsleeps. In addition, 72.9% of pilots reported having insufficient rest to recover from fatigue between their flights.
Likewise, the survey reveals a worrying trend in the extension of flight activity limits, with almost one in five pilots using the commander's discretion to extend flight activity two or more times in the last four weeks.
"These are worrying signs and clearly indicate that air safety risks due to fatigue are not well managed in many European airlines," says Otjan de Bruijn, president of the European Pilots Association (ECA).
