Warning Over Aviation Workers’ Mental Health Status

Different airlines are starting to rehire their pilots and other aviation workers to meet the current travel demands. There were 1,841 flights scheduled in UK airports flying to France, Spain, Italy, and Greece for the duration of 2 weeks starting May 17. That’s equivalent to a 300% jump from just two weeks earlier. In the US, there were new routes and even new players in the aviation industry.

As the aviation industry bounces back after a year of losses, researchers warn about aviation workers’ compromised mental health status.  This warning came from Lived Experience and Wellbeing Project, composed of researchers from Trinity College Dublin. The group specifically studied aviation workers’ mental health. The researchers took a closer look at how mental health status can impact performance and flight safety.

Alarming State of Mental Health Among Aviation Workers

Though aviation workers are looking forward to returning and getting their salaries again, a survey discovered that many feel depleted. Paul Cullen, who is a commercial pilot and research associate with the Trinity College team raised this concern.

He said that “We can’t sweep this under the carpet or dress it up”. He added that “The data says a certain number of pilots were struggling pre-COVID but they wouldn’t disclose a mental health issue to their employer”. Their reason is that they could lose their salary and even their license.

Cullen said that there are procedures that will ensure that planes work properly. However, he said that “you need to do the same for the crew to make sure they’re airworthy”.

The survey was conducted on 1,000 pilots around the world in 2019. According to the survey, 18% are suffering from moderate depression while 80% are experiencing some form of burnout. And worse, 81% are not going to disclose their conditions to their employers.

The second survey was conducted on aviation workers including pilots and cabin crew, engineers, and air traffic controllers. The second survey was done in August 2020 during the pandemic. It was discovered that 20% of pilots along with 58% of the cabin crew have moderate depression.

The European Commission ordered airlines to conduct a psychological test before hiring pilots after a 2015 case where a pilot deliberately crashed a plane killing 150 people on board. But despite the preliminary precautions,  the industry doesn’t gather data on aviation workers’ mental health regularly to make sure that they are healthy to handle work-related stress.