PAPERBACK |
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter.
Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.
Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.
OCR for page 1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The potential for fatigue to negatively affect human performance is well established.
Concern about this potential in the aviation context extends back decades, with both airlines and
pilots agreeing that fatigue is a safety concern. A more recent consideration is whether and how
pilot commuting, conducted in a pilot’s off-duty time, may affect fatigue.
The Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 (P.L.
111-216) directed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to contract with the National
Academy of Sciences to conduct a study on the effects of commuting on pilot fatigue. The study
is intended to inform the development of commuting-related aspects of FAA regulations also
specified in the act.
The committee was asked to review available information related to the prevalence and
characteristics of pilot commuting; sleep, fatigue, and circadian rhythms; airline and regulatory
oversight policies; and pilot and airline practices. Based on this review, the committee will
define and discuss several related topics:
• commuting in the context of pilot alertness and fatigue;
• the relationships between the available science on alertness, fatigue, sleep, and
circadian rhythms, cognitive and physiological performance, and aviation safety;
• the policy, economic, and regulatory issues that affect pilot commuting;
• the commuting policies of commercial air carriers and, to the extent possible,
practices that are supported by the available research; and
• potential next steps, including, to the extent possible, recommendations for
regulatory or administrative actions, or further research, by the FAA.
This interim report summarizes the committee’s review to date of the available
information. The final report will present a final review, along with the committee’s conclusions
and recommendations based on the information available during its deliberations.
Fatigue has multiple interactive sources. The primary ones that may be relevant to pilot
commutes include: duration of time awake prior to work, duration of time slept prior to work,
quality or restfulness of sleep (i.e., sleep continuity) prior to work, and the biological time (i.e.,
circadian phase) at which commuting occurs relative to start of work. The duration of time at
work (i.e., time on task) is a regulated factor for fatigue mitigation, but it is not regulated relative
to commute time since the latter is off-duty time. In the aviation industry, commutes that involve
travel across multiple time zones have the potential to exacerbate fatigue associated with
commuting, as can chronic restriction of sleep for multiple days prior to commuting.
Commuting by pilots is a common practice that is characterized by tremendous
variability. However, comprehensive information on the prevalence or characteristics of
commuters is currently unavailable. Although extensive scientific research has been conducted
on alertness, fatigue, sleep and circadian rhythms, cognitive and physiological performance, and
safety—including research specific to the aviation industry—there is a paucity of information on
the nature of commutes or how commuting affects factors that connect sleep and performance.
The committee’s charge does not include a systematic survey of either pilots or airlines,
and the specified time and available resources also preclude such a survey. Instead, the
committee has requested relevant information from pilot and airline associations, consumer
1
OCR for page 2
groups, and individual airlines. That information will be considered, along with further analysis
of the relevant research and its implications given what is known about the aviation industry and
commuting, in the committee’s final report. To date, the extent and circumstances under which
commuting contributes to fatigue are unclear.
2
