University of South Australia study reveals which pilots were most stressed by the pandemic

Short-haul pilots had a better pandemic than their long-haul colleagues, says survey. Photo / 123RF

Stress levels among airline pilots skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic, putting their mental health at risk, according to a new university study.

Survey data collected from pilots in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and North America reveals that 75.5 per cent of them were stressed about their uncertain future, anti-social working hours and the "divergence in values" between pilots and management.

University of South Australia senior lecturer in aviation Dr Silvia Pignata said the research found stress was especially high among long-haul and ultralong-haul pilots.

Short-haul pilots, however, enjoyed a break from their normal flying schedule.

A pilots' union in New Zealand says quarantine, isolation and attitudes to crew who flew overseas when borders were closed were stressful, though measures to help ease those issues had helped.

The University of South Australia study of 49 pilots between September and November - when flying was ramping up gradually - found short-haul and medium-haul pilots had the lowest level of strain while the long-haul pilots had the highest stress level.

Pignata told the Herald high stress levels could be dangerous.

"If people are stressed - not just pilots - it makes us more prone to lack of concentration, memory issues and you're not thinking as clearly as you should be."

This resulted in fatigue.

"Anyone working in aviation should have lower levels of stress."

The general population in Australia scores 0-1 on a mental health scale while long-haul pilots scored 1.28.

"There are some issues there,"said Pignata. "Long-haul pilots were the first to lose their flying duties, they had worse job security."

Airlines are now needing more pilots so job insecurity was not one of the primary stressors. Instead, there were other concerns, said Pignata.

"At the moment, particularly in Australia, the airline industry is going through a tough period with increased passenger traffic; there's not enough resourcing to cope with that."

The findings should be a wake-up call for the industry to bring in targeted workplace measures to support pilots and mitigate pilot stress, Pignata and her fellow researchers told a recent conference.

Grounded planes during Covid and the ongoing disruption to flight schedules have added to pilots' stress, with 46 to 82 per cent of pilots impacted by the pandemic.

Thousands of pilots lost their jobs when airlines parked up hundreds of planes. Photo / Supplied

"The issue of work stress has been neglected by the aviation industry, even before the pandemic," Pignata said.

"Due to consumer demand for travel, airlines strive to keep their fleet in the air for as long as possible. Higher turnover rates mean more flight legs, increased workloads and higher stress levels for pilots. The uncertainty around the industry and conflicts with management over the past two years has just added to their stress."

Previous studies have highlighted the mental fatigue that short-haul pilots experience due to flying multiple routes in a typical day, when pilots' heart rates can reach 88 beats per minute during landing. Repeated take-offs and landings may exacerbate this stress.

Meanwhile, long-haul flights play havoc with pilots' body clocks, as they fly across multiple time zones and work irregular hours.

Some verbatim feedback from the survey included:

• "More uncertainty in relation to career prospects" - medium-haul pilot.
• "Stress of having young family and uncertain of future" - ultralong-haul pilot.
• "In terms of income, yes. 50 per cent pay cut" - medium-haul.
• "Lost my career" - medium-haul.

Pignata said that minimal research had been undertaken on job stress among pilots, and in the long run this may threaten the aviation industry's level of safety.

"Added to that is the negative impact of the recent pandemic, which only increases the need for aviation authorities to look deeper into pilots' mental health and wellbeing."

Andrew Ridling, president of the NZ Airline Pilots Association (NZALPA) flew long-haul routes himself throughout the pandemic and agreed with many of the survey's findings, but said there was good communication among pilots and with employers here.

"From a long-haul perspective, we were trapped in hotels and the way we were treated was very mentally fatiguing. When we went overseas we were escorted to hotel rooms and locked in them and then there were issues when we came home with having to test and isolate."

There were robust systems within NZALPA which has a long-established peer assistance network.

"We're small enough and we're able to monitor each other."

Early in the pandemic Air New Zealand laid off about 300 pilots, with some taking voluntary redundancy or accepting early retirement.

Ridling said Air NZ chief executive Greg Foran had been very supportive of pilots.

"He's always encouraging people and making sure they're looking after themselves."

In some ways the pandemic had helped some people deal with mental health issues.

"As an industry and a country, we're probably more aware of mental wellness in all walks of life. Covid has allowed us to encourage people to come forward and speak up when we're having problems, a bit like we've done with alcohol and drugs."

Now travel had largely recovered, pilots were dealing with stresses they were more accustomed to.

"It's no more stressful but we are very busy. The rosters have gone from zero to maximum flying hours. The bounce has been alot more than anyone expected."

Pilots were good at divorcing themselves from the impact of disruption and public backlash following cancelled flights around the world over the past few months.

"Most pilots are not part of the processes going on outside of the plane."