Perceived Workload Is Associated with Cabin Crew Fatigue on Ultra-Long Range Flights

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether on ultra-long range (ULR) flights, perceived workload is an independent predictor of cabin crew fatigue at top-of-descent (TOD) and if so, to what degree it is associated with cabin crew fatigue relative to sleep-related factors.

Background: Current ULR scheduling for cabin crew is predominantly based on flight crew data. However, cabin crew workload is very different in nature to that of flight crew.

Method: Fifty-five cabin crew wore an actigraph and completed a sleep/duty diary to monitor sleep during a ULR trip. At TOD, crewmembers completed a 5-min Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), rated their sleepiness (Karolinska Sleepiness Scale) and fatigue (Samn-Perelli Crew Status Check), and after landing their workload (NASA Task Load Index).

Results: When workload was perceived as higher, crewmembers felt more sleepy and fatigued and had more PVT lapses at TOD. The effect of workload on sleepiness was larger (Cohen’s ƒ² = .27) than the duration of wakefulness (Cohen’s ƒ² = .14), but the effect of workload on fatigue (Cohen’s ƒ² = .17) was smaller than the duration of wakefulness (Cohen’s ƒ² = .24). Lapses were not associated with sleep history, whereas workload had a small effect (Cohen’s ƒ² = .14).

Conclusion: Workload as a fatigue factor for cabin crew warrants ongoing monitoring. This can be achieved by including a workload question in fatigue reports as an essential component in Fatigue Risk Management Systems.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the significant contribution of the participating cabin crew and their diligence in completing the study requirements. This study was made possible by Wynand Serfontein, FRMS and Crew Fatigue Specialist at South African Airways. We would also like to acknowledge the involvement of the research assistants at South African Airways, namely Barbie Moonsamy, Carol Myaluza, Ayanda Toti, Beverly Seabi, Heather Marule, Samantha Narisamulu, Carey Bouwer, and Masilo Matseke, and at the Sleep/Wake Research Centre, Rosie Gibson, Sophie McCashin, and Hannah Timms for their assistance with the data processing.

We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for critically reading the manuscript and providing helpful suggestions for improving its clarity.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The study from which these data originate was funded by South African Airways.