The Relationship Between Subjective Workload and Fatigue in Multi- Sector Flight Operations

Introduction: Flight crew members who fly multiple sectors per duty are at risk of experiencing high levels of fatigue, which can compromise safety. Although it is known that subjective workload and fatigue are closely related, the relationship between these two constructs is not well understood. This study aims to investigate the relationship between subjective workload and fatigue during flight duties, taking into account the number of sectors flown. The influence of duty duration, previous workload, and demographic factors is determined as well.

Methods: Data used for this study was derived from the FTL2.0 study, a large-scale study executed by a consortium of research institutes, with the objective of determining the effectiveness of the current European Flight Time Limitations. In the overall study, a total of 226 participants (both cockpit and cabin crew) were studied for 2–4 weeks, and were asked to fill out questionnaires on dedicated smartphones during both on and off duty days. Of these, 102 flight crew members who flew multiple sectors were included in the present analysis. Questionnaires used were the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS), the Samn-Perelli Fatigue Scale (SP), the Rating Scale Mental Effort (RSME) and the NASA Task Load Index (TLX). In addition, a 3-minute Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) was performed before and after each flight duty. Demographic factors such as age, experience, and rank were collected at baseline, together with information on health, lifestyle and previous workload. Information about the number of sectors and flight duty duration was provided by both the participants as well as the airlines involved. Multiple linear regression analysis will be used to examine the relationship between subjective workload, number of sectors flown, and the outcome measures subjective fatigue and PVT performance. It will also be determined if one of the two independent variables acts as a moderator (affects the causal relation between two other variables). In addition, since participants could indicate what was the main reason for their perceived high workload (e.g., turnaround time, ATC, weather, unruly passengers, difficult airport, technical issues), descriptive statistics will be applied to these reasons as well.

Results: The analyses are being conducted at the moment. Results will be presented during the WTS symposium in Brazil.

Conclusion: This study aims to disentangle the effect of perceived workload, the number of sectors flown, and fatigue of flight crew. The outcomes have implications for the development of effective fatigue risk management systems in airlines who fly multi-sector operations.

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
08. Oktober 2025