NTERNATIONAL R EVIEW OF I NDUSTRIAL AND O RGANIZATIONAL P SYCHOLOGY 2005 To compensate for the effects of jetlag, all airworthiness authorities have
182 I NTERNATIONAL R EVIEW OF I NDUSTRIAL AND O RGANIZATIONAL P SYCHOLOGY 2005 To compensate for the effects of jetlag, all airworthiness authorities have
strict duty time limitations. A survey of these regulations by Cabon, Bourgeois-Bougrine, Mollard, Coblentz, and Speyer (2002) identified 13 factors used in determining the rest periods between flights (e.g., number of legs flown, reporting time, adjustment to local time, duration of legs). However, no country uses more than 11 of these criteria, and some use very few (only two or three). These duty time regulations highlight the conflicting requirements of safety and performance. Whereas safety would
be enhanced with more rest after crossing time zones, this is economically wasteful. It requires more crew to be employed to relieve those on stopover, and the airline also has effectively to pay crew for doing nothing, while also covering their accommodation costs! Long stopovers may further contribute to stress by increasing the length of separation fromfamily and friends (see Sloane & Cooper, 1986 for a more extensive treatment of this topic). Airlines are now actively promoting safety by involving pilots’ spouses in the manage- ment of stress, as they are a major source of social support and a significant factor in their ability to deal effectively with psychosocial stress. However, it is recognized that there are particular challenges faced by both partners in an ‘airline marriage’ (Karlins, Koh, & McCully, 1989).
The nature of the airline pilot’s work can have other effects in addition to fatigue. It has been reported that up to 12% of professional pilots drink alcohol as a means of coping with stressful situations (Sloane & Cooper, 1984). More recent research by CMR (1990) and Ross and Ross (1995) concurs with this figure. These stressors may either be of a personal nature, or a product of work-related pressures. Typical of the latter are worries about company stability, which has been found to be related to stress and depression in pilots (Little, Gaffney, Rosen, & Bender, 1990) and large numbers of last-minute flying schedule changes which are becom- ing more common as a result of flight crew being used more ‘efficiently’ (Maxwell & Harris, 1999). Long-haul flight crew commonly reported drink- ing socially with other crewmembers after flights as a means of helping them to relax, especially when crossing several time zones. All airlines have em- ployee assistance programs to help employees cope with their job-related demands, and by doing so promote safety. Figures are difficult to establish, but in 1983 one US carrier was reported to have over 120 recovering alcoholic pilots (Harper, 1983).
The birth of ‘low-cost’ carriers has emphasized the need for efficiency. As margins are low on each seat sold, load factors need to be high and turn- arounds need to be swift. Furthermore, crews need to be utilized to the maximum, resulting in stress and fatigue (Bennett, 2003). As low-cost car- riers have taken market share from larger carriers, the major airlines have also needed to react and begin to operate in a similar manner. There has also been
a raft of acquisitions and mergers in the industry. This has also promoted stress levels in both pilot and cabin crew populations, stemming from issues