Airline Pilots Commuting and Its Effects on Fatigue - Literature review Example

Airline Pilots Commuting and Its Effects on Fatigue Name Institution Literature review Airline Pilots Commuting and Its Effects on Fatigue In this chapter, the main focus is on reviewing the relevant studies that have been done concerning commuting and fatigue among the airline pilots in different airports and countries. In this research, the paper will concentrate on a systematic literature review from peer reviewed journals, experiments and reports from a different organization in the airline transport systems as well as publications from different sources. In air transport, pilots are required to have a high level of alertness in order to ensure safety of the passengers. The fatal accidents in the transport sector include the air accidents, which are caused by various reasons. Among the causes of air transport accidents is fatigue among the pilots. The lifestyles of pilots differ depending on individual reasons and professional reasons. This means that some pilots experience fatigue, which results from commuting to work every morning, or every time they are reporting to work (Trumbull, 2013). According to Cooke (2011), some pilots commute to work for various reasons, which include economic or social reasons. However, the lifestyle of an individual pilot may affect the performance of the work of the pilot. This means that some pilot’s lifestyles such as commuting to work makes them experience muscle fatigue which have undesirable effects to the job performance. Commuting in a human being is one of the activities which are associated with fatigue of the human body. This is because, commuting involves several muscles of the body hence weakens the ability of these muscles to function properly. In order to ensure safety of passengers, the pilot and his or her assistants should be free from any disturbances that arise from any cause. However, tiredness of crew members has been found to be one of the factors that cause aircraft accidents in the world. Commuting is associated with fatigue of the body. Commuting in human being decreases the life span of the individual. Commuting raises safety concerns in the aviation industry. This is because commuting in pilots is associated with lack of enough sleep among pilots. This is because commuting pilots are perceived to be tired due to long travel distances. These distances make their body and mind tired. There are a number of aircraft accidents that are associated with fatigue in commuting pilots (National Research Council, 2011). Factors Associated with Commuting in Pilots There are various factors as to why pilots use alternative means to commute to work. Some commutes to work using bicycles while other walk on their feet. This means that they are not in a position to hire a vehicle so that they can be driven comfortable to work. According to Cooke (2011), pilots commute to work in other to be able to live and save enough money due to hard economies. This means that the pilots commute to work because they are not able to afford to buy a car or because the cost of living is high such that they have to use public means of cycles or walk to work. Moreover, most of the airlines are situated in cities that have a high cost of living. This means that low earning pilots have a difficulty in managing the lifestyle in such cities (Levin, 2011). This forces the pilots not only to commute but live in poor housing facilities. This is because most regional airlines are not able to pay their pilots good compensation. In some individuals, the reason for commuting is domicile. If fact, in these individuals the issue of domicile is a matter of seniority. This means that when the pilots start working, they are placed on the list of the seniority list. In this case, the pilots are assigned with a lot of work which demands most of their time. However, after some duration, these pilots are allowed to bid to be reassigned in places where they are close to home. However, if no base exists, such as pilots are forced to commute from home to work. Commuting pilots use different means of transport to work. While other pilots will use a bicycle, there are others who will opt to use a train, public buses, to motorbikes to work. This means that, pilots are not able to get relaxed enough on their way to a job. This exposes them to a variety of effects that are caused by commuting. In most cases, the effects are not desirable since they cause a decrease in performance of the pilots. Therefore, pilots commute to work not because they want to do so but due to circumstances that force them to commute (Cooke, 2011). Effects of Commuting on Pilots Commuting among the pilots has been associated with a variety of effects. These effects are directly linked to fatigue of the pilots in the course of their duties. According to Shawn et al (2011), commuting among the pilots makes them tired. This makes the pilots sleep during their work. In addition, commuting among the pilots makes the pilots wake up very early in the morning so that they can be able to report to work early. This means that these pilots are not able to have enough sleep. This has an adverse effect on the performance of the pilots. This makes the pilot to sleep and lose their alertness during work. Since commuting involves the travelling for long distances in order to reach the airport, it has been associated with fatigue among the pilots (Levin, 2011). This is because pilots do not have enough time to rest hence makes the pilots arrive work when they are tired and sleepy. Moreover, commuting in pilots reduces their body energy such that they are unable to concentrate with their work. This implies that the alertness of the pilots is reduced by the fatigue they experience during their time of commuting. Therefore, a lot of accidents in the airline transport have been associated with fatigue in pilots who commute from their residences to airports. Hence, commuting is associated with sleep difficulties, fatigue and lack of alertness in pilots. This makes it impossible for pilots to perform well in their duties (Rosekind, 2010). Commuting, Fatigue and Sleep Science Commuting is associated with fatigue and sleep variation in human beings. According to sleep researchers, fatigue that is caused by commuting in pilots is able to cause a continuous stay awake continuously for a long period. This is because such individuals do not have enough time to sleep. In fact, research shows that pilots who commute very long distances to work have less than six hours of sleep. Commuting in pilots affects the time of awake, fatigue, and cardiac circulation such that an individual pilot is not able to have enough sleep and rest. Although different individuals have different time and duration of sleep it is estimated that on average, a healthy individual require approximately not less than 8 hours of sleep for every 24 hours. Failure to get enough sleep due to long working hours or due to commuting causes fatigue. Hence the effects of commuting fatigue have different effects on sleep, which include the following (Washington State University, 2011). Duration of time awake prior to work: pilots who commute to work spend most of their time awake before they report to work. Commuting pilots wake up early in order to commute longer distances to work. This means that they spend a lot of time awake as compared to the time they spend on sleeping. Duration of time slept prior to work: commuting pilots have less sleeping time before they report to work. Most studies have found that commuting pilots sleep less than six hours in a day. This means that they spend most of their time at work and commuting to and from their airports. Therefore, on arrival to work most of the pilots are sleepy and lose their concentration and alertness. This is likely to reduce their performance. A reduction in the pilot’s alertness may result in accidents in the air transport system which is fatal. Sleep continuity: this determines the restfulness of sleep prior to work. The pilots are required to have enough rest and a continuous sleeping time. However, sleep researcher found out that commuting pilots do not have a continuous sleep time. This is because most of them will wake up in the middle of their sleep in order to prepare themselves to go to work. Therefore, commuting in airline pilots causes fatigue of the heart. Commuting causes fatigue which affects the cardiac rhythm of an individual. This means that the cardiac rhythm is responsible for wakefulness, alertness and performance of an airline pilot. Additionally, fatigue in pilots reduces the teamwork necessary in pilot performance. The cardiac rhythm of an individual is related to all the biological, physiological and microbiology as well as the behavioral timing of sleep and wakefulness of an individual. This also influences the cognitive performance of the pilot, muscle tones, immune response and body temperature. This means that when an individual remain awake for a long time without sleeping, he or she develops elevated homeostatic pressure for sleep (National Research Council, 2011). This suggests that the internal cardiac clock is slowly withdrawing the wakefulness in the brain of an individual. In addition, the commuting in pilot results to a long period of wakefulness that alters the cardiac rhythm to produce hormones. In fact, the hormone production is altered when an individual lack enough sleep. Hence, fatigue in commuting pilots is able to alter the performance of an individual pilot via an interaction of cardiac pacemaker and the homeostatic drive for sleep. The changes in the human body that are due to commuting fatigue include neurobehavioral changes such as decreased alertness, decreased vigilance of the pilot, the cognitive performance of the pilot reduces, and there is reduced awareness of the pilot. This means that then performance of an individual pilot is affected when he or she stays awake for a long period. The cognitive awareness of the pilot reduces, and this may lead to accidents. Being awake for too long prior to reporting to work or having less time to sleep prior to work causes an elevated pressure in the brain of an individual which results in subjective fatigue and sleepiness. This causes degradation of attention of the pilot which is crucial in performance at work. In addition, there is degradation of the working memory, degrading mental speed, and cognitive performance of the pilot (Rosekind, 2010). Due to these effects in commuting fatigue, there is an increased aircraft crashing that have been associated with the commuting pilots. This is because the pilots were fatigued after a long period of wakefulness and lack of enough sleep. This reduces their performance and vision. In such cases, the pilots lost control and awareness resulting in fatal accidents. Examples of aircraft crashes that were associated with fatigue pilots include the Colgan air crash which resulted from a pilot error that was directly associated to pilot fatigue. Therefore, commuting in pilot results from different lifestyles among the pilots and prolonged working hours among the pilots, this result into pilot fatigue and lack of enough time to sleep. This reduces the pilot’s performance. In addition, it exposes the aircraft to accident since the cognitive performance of the pilot is decreased by the lack of enough sleep. Therefore, it is estimated that about 95 % of inadequate sleep is caused by fatigue (Paillard, 2012). Summary of General Effects of Fatigue in Pilots As discussed above, fatigue decreases the performance of a pilot since it affects the pilot in different ways (Perry, 2012). Cognitive fixation: fatigue results in to poor attention of the pilot, which makes the pilot to concentrate poorly during his or her work. This is risky since it may cause accidents in the airline transport. In such cases, the airline pilot becomes preoccupied by a particular task such that he or she becomes unaware of a situation. The airline pilots may experience reduced alertness due to fatigue that is contributed by commuting in airline pilots. Short term memory since pilots experience inabilities to recall information from their long term memories. The cognitive ability becomes slow, which causes the pilot to be unable to integrate certain information effectively. Changes in moods that may compromise the communication among the crew members in an aircraft resulting in an accident. Microsleeps that make the airline pilots be temporarily disengaged from the flight environment. This may lead to poor performance hence accidents. Policies and Regulation Affecting Commuting Pilots In order to reduce the effects that are caused by fatigue that results from commuting, it is important to examine the existing regulations that focus on commuting among airline pilots. However, there are no clear airline transport fatigue regulations and policies for pilots who commute from home to work and from work to their home places. For example, the 14 CFR 19 and 21, do not address the issues that surround the fatigue in commuting pilots. This means that following this policy or regulation will not be able to solve the risks associated with fatigue among the commuting pilots. Although the regulation requires that crew members should ensure that they are careful and alert in most times, the regulation does not take into considerations other factors that may constitute to lack of carefulness and alertness among the airline pilots. This means that the regulation does not take into account commuting pilots and the effects of commuting in airline pilots. However, the lack of regulation of commuting pilots is due to the fact that there are no data available which could be used to establish as to whether a commuting pilot is not fit for duty. The emphasis is on whether a pilot is careful and not reckless during his or her operations. In addition, the lack of these policies may be attributed to little data known in regard to commuting pilots. Moreover, the checks and balances in the aviation safety are redundant and are assumed to mitigate the effects associated with fatigue (Goode, 2003). In responding to the Airline safety and federal aviation administration extension act 2010, the Federal aviation administration managed to propose different aviation regulations that would take into account the commuting and fatigue issues in order to reduce the risks associated with fatigue hence ensure safety of individuals in the airline transport sector. The regulations and policies that were proposed by FAA regard to flight and time of duty of the pilots in the airline industry. This means that the time taken for a pilot to be working and time taken by a pilot who is commuting to report to work and have enough rest is taken into account. This is to take in the advantage of the research on commuting and fatigue which was found to be related to safety concerns such as airline accidents. The regulations and policies were related to the commuting time, the distance travelled by a commuting pilot, the duration the pilot will be working. This means that the time taken by a commuting pilot to commute from work to home or from home to work is not considered as duty time. Therefore, this was an effort by the FAA to upgrade these regulations in order to combat the effects of fatigue and its effects on airline pilots who commute to work. In 2010, the FAA worked on a revision of the existing inn aviation industry in order to allow airline pilots who commute from home to work to be able to get enough time to rest. This would ensure that they are fit for duty and avoid the effects associated with sleep and fatigue in airline pilots who commute. According to the FAA, it is inappropriate for one to rely solely on the fit for duty part 91 regulations since it does not address issues related to fatigue and commuting. Hence, the FAA proposed part 117, which is specifically for fitness and duty of the airline pilots. The existing rules and policies in airline transport include the following (National Research Council, 2011). 1. Fitness for duty Under this regulation, the crew member is allowed to get enough rest before he or she could commence duty. This means that the crew member is required to get enough sleep so as to avoid sleeping related effects that may arise from fatigue resulting from commuting. In fact, the crew member has the responsibility of ensuring that he or she sleeps during the opportunity that has been allocated for sleep rather than using the opportunity to perform other tasks and duties. Under this policy, a crew member who reports to work without having enough rest and sleep is deemed unfit for any duty. Additionally, this airline pilot is prohibited from his or her responsibilities and FDP until he or she is determined to have slept properly (Elias, 2010). 2. Fatigue Education and Training This rule is provided under part 121 of the FAA rules on airline pilots. Airline carriers are required by this rule to submit to the responsible authorities a fatigue risk management plan, fatigue related training and education. This is meant to increase the awareness of the carrier to fatigue, effects of fatigue and ways in which they can counteract the effects of fatigue. Updated versions of this policy require pilots to submit their educational training every two years as part of their mandatory training program in order to update their FRMP. 3. Fatigue Risk Management System This is a regulation that offers ways to monitor and mitigates fatigue in commuting pilots in airline transport systems. Under this regulation, a certificate holder is required to develop and implement ways in which he or she will monitor and mitigate fatigue. 4. Unaugmented operations. Under this proposed regulation, there should be a maximum flight duty for crew members in the airline transport systems. This means that there should be a maximum flight limit for all crew members. In such cases, the time taken by an airline pilot to report to work and time taken in the course of duty is put into consideration. In addition, there should be a limit to the duration of the work among the pilots. This is because long shifts or working hour are the main sources of fatigue among airline pilots. In general, the FAA regulations should be revised in order to take into account issues and concerns that related to commuting and fatigue among the airline pilots. In such cases, there should be regulation of commuting among pilots that relate to the choice of the pilot. This means that policies should be established that should restrict pilots to commute when they choose to. This is aimed at preventing irresponsible commuting among the airline pilots. Irresponsible commuting among the pilots causes severe fatigue that result in lack of alertness and awareness among the pilots. This leads to accidents that are related to sleep of the pilots as a result of commuting fatigue. The proposed regulation on commuting should also consider the time used by commuting pilots to travel from home to workplaces should not be considered as rest time. This implies that commuting pilots will be allocated time to travel or commute from their homes to work and time to rest. This is to make sure that pilots comply with the fit for duty policies in the aviation industry (National Research Council, 2011). Training and education in airline pilots are considered as one of the strategies that will reduce the effects of commuting among airline pilots. Commuting airline pilots should be trained and educated on the effects of fatigue. In addition, the pilots should be educated in the better ways of managing fatigue in order to ensure that they are fit for their duties. This will mean that such pilots are less likely to cause an aircraft accident. Therefore, policies and regulation regarding airline pilots should be established in order to prevent safety risks resulting from fatigue. Moreover, pilots should also be provided by rules and regulations that will ensure better management of fatigue. Managing Fatigue in Commuting Pilots The commuting pilots report to work while they are tired and sleepy. As a result of the discussed effects and sleepy science related to commuting fatigue, there are various ways in which fatigue among airline pilots can be managed in order to ensure that pilots commence duty when they are fit and alert. There are different strategies that can be used in managing fatigue. Some of these strategies include regulations while another includes practices that are performed outside duties by an airline pilot in order to reduce the effects of fatigue among the commuting pilots (National Research Council, 2011). Napping is one of the strategies that airline pilots can use to ensure that they have enough sleep before duty. This means that pilots should have a short time to sleep before a flight in order to reduce the fatigue that result from commuting. In addition, pilots should refrain from stressful physical activities that will make them tired. This will increase their chances of falling asleep in the course of their duties, which would compromise the performance. Therefore, in ensuring that airline pilots are not affected by commuting and fatigue, airline administration should allocate time for their pilots have enough rest before work. In addition, they should allocate few working hours to the pilots. This will ensure that the pilots work for a limited time such that they have time to go home and have enough sleep time (James, 2001). Conclusion Every individual in any work environment experiences different types of fatigue and workload. Pilots are required to have a high level of alertness in order to ensure safety standards are met. This means that pilots should always be in good condition in order to be termed as fit for duty. Commuting among pilots is caused by various reasons. Some pilots commute to work because they are not able to afford the city lifestyle since they are paid low income. In addition, some pilots commute because they choose to commute. Commuting in airline pilots is associated with fatigue that results in undesirable outcomes. In the recent past, aviation reports have linked some of the aircraft accidents to fatigue in commuting pilots. Fatigue among the pilots causes the pilots to experience sleepiness that affects their concentration and ability to work. This reduces their performance hence can cause accidents. There are different regulations that are in place to address commuting in airline pilots. This is to ensure that airline pilots are able to have enough rest time before they can commence duty. The regulation also seeks to limit the working time for the pilots such that commuting time is not considered as resting time. This is aimed at ensuring that pilots have enough sleeping time in order to be fit for duty. List of Acronyms CFR = Code for Federal Regulation FAA= Federal Aviation Administration FDP= Flight Duty Period FRMP= Fatigue Risk Management Practices FRMS=Fatigue Risk management systems References Cooke, C. (2011). Airline Pilots Who Commute. Executive Travel. Retrieved from http://www.executivetravelmagazine.com/articles/airline-pilots-who-commute Elias, B. (2010). Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization: An Overview of Legislative Action in the 111th Congress. Collingdale: DIANE Publishing Goode, J. (2003). Are pilots at risk of accidents due to fatigue? Journal of Safety Research, 34(2), 309 – 313 James, C. (2001). Controlling Pilot Error: Fatigue. London: McGraw-Hill Levin, A. (2011). Study: Long commutes can put pilots at risk of fatigue. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/PC/Desktop/AIRLINE/Study%20%20Long%20commutes%20can%20put%20pilots%20at%20risk%20of%20fatigue%20-%20USATODAY.com.htm. National Research Council (2011). The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue, National Academic Press, Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=HqCpvWpJcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=fatigue+and+pilots+commuting&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1vK2UcmdDaS40QXLzIDICA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=fatigue%20and%20pilots%20commuting&f=false. Paillard, T. (2012). Effects of general and local fatigue on postural control: A review. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 36(1), 162-176 Perry, M. (2012). Pilot Fatigue. Aviation Knowledge. Retrieved from http://aviationknowledge.wikidot.com/aviation:pilot-fatigue Rosekind, M. (2010). Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue: An NTSB Perspective. National Research Council Presentation. Trumbull, M. (2013). Probe Blames Pilot Errors for Colgon Air’s Buffalo Crash. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/library/1P2-32541753/probe-blamespilot-errors-for-colgan-air-s-buffalo Washington State University (2011). Sleep researchers apply fatigue model to fatal commuter air crash. Science Daily. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110120090952.htm Read More