More than half of European commercial pilots say their colleagues “are often tired at work” and that pilot fatigue is not taken seriously by their employers, according to a large-scale survey conducted by European aeronautical researchers to evaluate pilot perceptions of safety.1
The report — released in November 2016 by Future Sky Safety, a research program begun by the association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics — also said that most of the 7,239 pilots who completed the electronic survey believed that the safety cultures at their companies were strong.
Nevertheless, the survey found a divide that separated pilots working for network carrier airlines (flag or legacy airlines) from those working for low-cost and cargo airlines, who had more negative perceptions.
The 7,239 pilots who submitted valid survey responses accounted for about 14 percent of commercial pilots in Europe, and the report said that the respondents were statistically represen…
