Developing a crew fatigue prevention program for Acme Airlines

Airline Crew Fatigue

An Airline Safety Program for Crew Fatigue

"Acme Airlines" (Acme Air) is a mid-sized regional carrier, for the purposes of this paper, that has undertaken to establish a "Crew Fatigue Prevention Program." Management has taken this action pursuant to safety concerns occasioned by several reported Acme Air crew-fatigue incidents and by recent tragic accident events at other regional airlines. Economic pressures have recently caused Acme Air to assign its nonunion crews (especially flight attendants) to multiple consecutive legs in an effort to cut overhead costs.

In the course of its safety review, four important new policies were adopted. First, management determined that flight attendant fatigue data needs to be collected from actual Acme Air operating environments. While some international airlines have been conducting studies with their flight attendants, the U.S. regional airlines have not yet collected field data.

Secondly, it also designed a crew reporting mechanism with associated feedback. This reporting procedure permits a flight attendant to "call in fatigued" similar to a pilot without discipline (non-punitive approach to safety).

A third new process was established for investigating fatigue reports or incidents and implementing new procedures that might solve or reduce the recurrence of the problem.

Finally, management now supports scheduling practices, operational practices, rest environments and attendance policies that support reducing fatigue in their operations (crewmembers, schedulers, dispatchers, etc.) having a responsibility for ensuring an airline operation that does not promote fatigue.

Implementation poses numerous real challenges, but they will be "fully addressed to ensue passenger safety," per Acme Air's CEO.

The Problem of Crew Fatigue at Acme Air

"My mind clicks on and off. I try letting one eyelid close at a time while I prop the other with my will. But the effect is too much, sleep is winning, my whole body argues dully that nothing, nothing life can attain is quite so desirable as sleep. My mind is losing resolution and control."

The Components of the Acme Air Crew Fatigue Safety Program

The first determination by management was to consider flight attendant fatigue issues as well as pilot schedules. Flight attendant mistakes are often not as obvious because of the current extraordinarily low number of accidents. But the potential for a serious incident is there.

To ensure safety of the entire transportation industry as a whole, workers that could have an effect on the survival rate of passengers, not just the pilot who operates the aircraft or the maintenance personnel who fix broken equipment. Cabin attendants are responsible for the equipment that fights fires, provides medical first response, and helps with a safe and speedy evacuation. (Waddell, 1998)

To say that flight attendant fatigue should not be a concern, or is not as important because they are not the sole factor that could cause an accident, or that they don't operate a moving vehicle, is to perpetuate an unspoken assumption that saving passenger lives doesn't matter.

Regional airline operations depend on the human operator to maintain high levels of flight safety. The specific operational requirements of regional operations create unique challenges regarding human fatigue. Regulatory differences, scheduling practices, and other factors have been suggested anecdotally as potential fatigue factors for regional operators.

The crews have certainly tried to bring attention to the problem. The subject of flight attendant fatigue was initially supposed to be studied by the FAA under a $200,000 appropriation from the Omnibus Appropriations for FY '05, with the findings to be reported back to Congress by June 1, 2005. Then the findings of this study were delayed for over a year, and only released after the flight attendants "staged an all-night 'sleep-in' in front of the FAA headquarters in order to draw attention to the issue. The FAA's CAMI then initiated an agreement with NASA Ames Research Center to perform an evaluation of the flight attendant fatigue issue. (http://human-factors.arc.nasa.gov/zteam/).

NASA's Human Factors Group then conducted an extensive survey to identify operational factors that may contribute to fatigue in regional airline operations. A retrospective survey of 119-questions was disseminated to pilots from 26 regional carriers.()

The survey addressed general demographic information, sleeping at home, flying (including recent flying experiences), duty days (including scheduling practices), fatigue (including perceptions of fatigue in regional operations, fatigue factors, and fatigue effects), and work environment (including corporate attitudes, safety, and management quality). The subjects were 1,424 regional flight crewmembers who voluntarily and anonymously completed the survey. Overall, crewmembers identified fatigue as an important consideration in regional airline operations, with 89% rating it a moderate or serious concern. Further, 88% reported that fatigue was a common occurrence in regional operations, and 92% reported that when fatigue occurs, it represents a moderate or serious safety issue. However, 86% reported that they received no training from their companies that addressed fatigue issues. Fatigue factors identified by respondents included multiple flight segments, scheduling considerations, varying regulations, and others.

The short-distance nature of regional operations results in multiple flight segments rather than the one or two long segments common in long-haul operations. The two most commonly cited fatigue factors regarded flying multiple (more than four) segments.

Scheduling factors identified by crews accounted for nine of the ten most common recommendations that crewmembers made to reduce fatigue in regional operations. The scheduling factors included: long duty days, continuous-duty overnights, reserve status, early duty report times, and the amount of time between flight legs. Many of these scheduling practices are unique to regional operations. (Co, 1999)

Another specific challenge is that regional airlines operate under various parts of the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs). Differing requirements among these regulations were cited as contributing to fatigue in regional operations. Other factors identified were: the flight deck environment, including high temperatures and noise; automation, including the lack of autopilot and other equipment; and diet, including dehydration and the availability of food. (Rosenthal, 1991)

The data from flight crewmembers suggested certain recommendations, including education of industry personnel about fatigue issues, and examination of scheduling practices. Education plays a critical role in any effort to address fatigue in operations. Physiological background information and practical strategies for fatigue management are two crucial topics. Educating individuals in every part of the system would maximize the benefit of this activity. Analyzing scheduling practices and identifying potential improvements may result in reduced fatigue as well as other benefits to operations. (Colquhoun, 1976)

That study was not enough, unfortunately. "The subject of flight attendant fatigue is being placed under the microscope for yet another study by the FAA. The agency's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) has now finished Phase One of its second study on flight attendant fatigue and its impact on airline safety, and will be moving into a final field study phase by mid-summer." (Nelms, 2009)

The second study was conducted to determine how bad the problem is, what the impact of fatigue is on flight safety and how it can be resolved. While the industry appears to be heading to a less prescriptive approach to fatigue management there is still a place for traditional regulations that limit the number of hours worked vs. The new thoughts of "comprehensive plans" that help identify fatigue and mitigate risks. It is possible that a flight attendant error, due to fatigue, could possibly result in the death or serious injury to some of our passengers. (Battelle,1998)

Therefore, it is crucial that we be just as concerned with flight attendant fatigue as pilot and mechanic fatigue if we hope to achieve the aviation goal of preventing accidents and saving lives.

The Acme Air Planned Solutions

Acme's first step was to gather crew input. Categories of the changes recommended by crews and adopted by Acme Air to reduce fatigue include:

Category:

Includes:

Rest Eliminate scheduled reduced rest

Eliminate reduced rest

Longer rest periods

Shorter duty Shorter duty days

Limit number of duty hours allowed

CDOs Eliminate CDOs

No consecutive CDOs

Fewer legs Schedule fewer flight legs

Limit number of flight legs

Consistent scheduling Schedule for days or nights, no alternating

Do not mix CDOs & morning report times

Minimize multiple scheduling changes

Breaks Schedule turnaround times to allow for break/meal/bathroom

Do not schedule long (several hour) breaks between flights

Food/bev Provide food and beverage on flight

Schedule enough time between flight legs for meals

Transport/rest Start rest period upon arrival at hotel (do not count transport)

Reserve Consider time on reserve as duty time

Shorter reserve periods (limit to either a.m. Or p.m.)

Acme Air's plan started with the finding that fatigue can be prevented by individuals taking preemptive measures. First, it formally identified the problem in a company directive:

"Symptoms of fatigue include a feeling of indifference to one's performance, increased reaction time, a decreased ability to concentrate on multiple tasks, fixation, short-term memory loss, impaired judgment, impaired decision-making ability, distractibility, sloppy flying skills, reduced visual perception, loss of initiative, personality changes and depression." (Company literature, 2010)

Acme issued this further directive to all personnel: "Pilots take great pride in their skills and abilities, yet they let their performance degrade needlessly due to fatigue. It is in their hands to take the necessary steps to remain safe and alert, even when the government and their employers are allowing them to work irrational and dangerous schedules. Planning to get enough sleep before a trip is the most obvious step. Using earplugs and eye masks can help in this endeavor.

"Another step would be to eat properly. Everyone should exercise often, but remember to do so well before the start of a trip. This will make the pilot healthier and more alert. Pilots can stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water, especially during a flight, and avoid coffee, sodas and alcohol. They can wear noise-reducing headsets if the cockpit is loud.

"Finally, all crew personnel must stay home when they are ill, for their own sake and for their fellow crew members."

The company's literature was amended to state that fatigue was closely interrelated to other problems in that it can be a symptom of them, or it can be the cause. The most obvious cause of fatigue would be a lack of sleep, but other factors would include stress, anxiety and poor health. It can also be a cause of these problems. Furthermore, fatigue can be the symptom of other problems such as hypoxia and dehydration.

Next, Acme Air formally redefined the scheduled "rest period." Under current FAA guidelines, flight attendants must be allowed nine hours of "rest" between flights. Under certain conditions, such as a longer rest period of 10 hours after the second flight, that initial time can be cut to eight hours.

Added to that is the actual amount of rest that a flight attendant gets between flights when one adds in the time needed to clear the airport, travel to a hotel, eat, prepare for the next day's flight, then try to get to sleep in a strange city while plagued by jetlag. These other activities no longer count as rest at Acme Air, for pilots and attendants.

The management found that lack of sleep can cause the flight attendants to be slow to respond to emergencies in the cabin as well as be less sensitive to potentially dangers conditions, such as the ever growing problem of cabin rage. "And with the increased need for security, there is an ever greater need for awareness of security situational integrity of the cabin," read the company directive.

Lastly, management changed the company's sick leave policy to "unlimited days." It became no longer financially disadvantageous for crew members to report their malady. Antihistamines help by alleviating the symptoms of illness but by their nature they also increase fatigue. Regardless, making these people work does their fellow crew members a disfavor by exposing them to their illness and further increasing the possibility of an operational error due to fatigue.

Management then agreed to revisit the issue with more decisions in 18 months.