Quick coherence technique facilitating commercial pilots’ psychophysiological resilience to the impact of COVID-19

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of quick coherence technique (QCT) on commercial pilots’ resilience to the unprecedented impact of a pandemic. Eighteen commercial pilots voluntarily participated in a 2-day training course on QCT followed by 2 months of self-regulated QCT practicing during controlled rest in the flight deck and day-to day life. There are subjective and objective assessments to evaluate the effects of QCT on commercial pilots’ psychophysiological resilience. Results demonstrated that QCT training can significantly increase pilots’ psychophysiological resilience thereby improving their mental/physical health, cognitive functions, emotional stability and wellness on both subjective (PSS & AWSA) and objective measures (coherence scores). Moreover, pilots who continued practicing self-regulated QCT gained the maximum benefits. Current research has identified great potential to enhance pilots’ mental/physical health via QCT training. Operators can develop peer support programs for pilots to increase resilience and maintain mental and physical health using the QCT technique.

Practitioner summary: QCT breathing has been proven to increase commercial pilots’ resilience by moderating psychophysiological coherence, strengthening mental/physical capacity and sustaining positive emotions to deal with the challenges both on the flight deck and in everyday life.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Pilots have suffered from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic across many factors including social, economic, mental, physical, emotional, and operational issues

• Biofeedback training can increase commercial pilots’ resilience by moderating psychophysiological coherence, strengthening mental and physical capacity

• Self-regulated practicing QCT to form a habitual behaviour is required to sustain the maximum benefits either in the flight or day-to-day life

• QCT is an effective intervention for aviation authorities and airline operators to develop peer support programs to increase pilots’ fatigue resilience

Keywords:

• Aviation safety
• biofeedback training
• controlled rest
• psychophysiological resilience
• quick coherence technique

Acknowledgement

Authors would like to express special thanks to Captain Ben Whitworth and all pilots who are voluntarily participating this research and for their substantial contributions to this research. Their support and the enthusiasm on providing their knowledge and experiences were invaluable in facilitating the authors’ research efforts.

Disclosure statement

The authors declared that they have no commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted to Ergonomics.

Additional information

Funding

The first author of this research was supported by the Higher Education Innovation Fund [HEIF 2020-2021], UK.