Despite a common public perception that a cockpit career is glamorous, well rewarded and a job for life, pilots often feel anxious and insecure and several pilots face mental health issues – an issue which is not much talked about.
Mental health is an integral and essential component of health. Safety sensitive industries like aviation need pilots to be in a state of mental well-being. This requires a caring organisation and an empathetic workplace. A safety culture that respects and protects basic individual rights is fundamental to mental health and is essential for the safe performance of aviation safety-critical duties.
Mental health issues affect a large number of people across cultures, races, sex and age and several statistical studies have documented this. Unfortunately, the incidence of mental health conditions in aviation is difficult to determine as pilots are reluctant to disclose mental health problems.
This reluctance is due to a fear of stigmatisation, grounding, loss of license and employment. The issue of mental health has gained wider attention after the 2015 Germanwings crash, which was deliberately caused by the plane’s co-pilot.
Statistically, a majority of aviation accidents and incidents have human error as their main causative factor. Human error generally refers to an accident in which an action or decision made by a human was the cause or a contributing factor that led to the accident, but also includes human failure to make a correct decision or take proper action. This paper will focus on the unique working environment and conditions of airline pilots which can lead to mental health problems.
Airline pilots have a unique working environment which may increase the risk of pilots developing mental health conditions. The physical environment in which pilots operate places an inordinate demand on physical and mental faculties. They are confined to a small restricted workspace with limited freedom of movement. They are required to complete multiple duties at 40,000 feet while breathing scrubbed air, noise, vibration, reduced oxygen and exposure to radiation. A helicopter pilot endures a very high level of vibration and noise, heat, cold and dust, high chances of disorientation, blade flicker and vertigo. Pilots work long, irregular hours and their circadian rhythms are constantly disrupted. Besides this, they may have to work with different colleagues on different routes every time they come to work. On top of all this, they have to be prepared for and may have to cope with inflight systems failure and emergencies.
The Indian Context
In countries like India where mental health is spoken in hushed tones, a pilot labelled such will suffer from a loss of self-esteem, confidence, stress and isolation – all leading to an increased risk to safety. Few occupational groups are subject to the same level of scrutiny as airline pilots and this adds to the stress.
The sheer number of aviation organisations that regulate standards and oversee all aspects of a pilots workplace life is incredulous. A typical Indian pilot would need to know and follow ICAO instructions and Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs); rules, circulars and policies of Ministry of Civil Aviation, DGCA, Airports Authority of India, Indian Met Dept, Wireless Planning and Coordination Cell, Company policies and practices, NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen), Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, the local airport operator, national and local police. Rules and regulations keep on changing without a clearcut effort at discarding/amending prior ones which lead to a lot of confusion.
During a normal workday, a pilot would require to communicate with flight rostering, pack and check out of a hotel, wait for a cab, be subjected to jostling traffic, noise and fumes; walk up to flight dispatch, get a physical conducted including a breath analyser test; get a briefing from flight ops, dispatch, meteorology, commercial and engineering. Thereafter he would need to talk to a bewildering array of people on innumerable frequencies – clearance delivery, ground, pushback and marshalers, tower, approach, radar, air defence radar, cabin crew, company, passengers, other aircraft and always at his best behaviour possible as any faux pax would lead to an explanation.
Not only this, a pilot is repeatedly evaluated throughout his/her professional career ensuring fitness to fly. Commercial airline pilots must possess a valid Class 1 Medical certificate to be eligible to fly and attend medical evaluations every year until the age of 40 and then every 6 months until the age of 65, to ensure they remain fit to fly and retain their certification. Pilots are also responsible for maintaining valid licences and medical certificates. In one year a pilot will complete several days of simulator tests, a couple of flight under supervision, technical exams, safety and operational courses. Failure in any of these can result in additional training or loss of licence and these repeated evaluations are a potential source of stress as a poor outcome can result in a pilot losing their livelihood.
The national culture in India – unquestioned respect for elders results in a very high authority gradient in the company and the cockpit. This makes it difficult for a junior pilot to question the decisions and actions of a more senior pilot. Juniors fear speaking up due to the fear of victimisation. Office politics including shunning anyone who speaks up with a contrary opinion is common. Varying cultures, attitudes and linguistic differences also lead to misunderstandings.
In some companies, especially in the corporate sector safety culture exists only on paper, which discourages people from speaking out. A smaller company is more likely to place undue operational pressures for economic reasons.
The findings of a landmark survey by GOOSE Recruitment and FlightGlobal conducted in 2020, which polled more than 1,300 working pilots worldwide on attitudes to their work has revealed a high level of stress and job dissatisfaction among airline pilots.
In the survey, many airline pilots felt stressed and undervalued by management and were worried about job security and automation making their role redundant. A high percentage of pilots found it difficult when dealing with company management, with rotations, Flight Duty Time Limitations, their daily commute to work and regularly dealing with difficult to please passengers. Many felt that their employer did not care about their wellbeing.
Personal Relationships
Like most people, pilots have personal obligations and responsibilities and are subject to the challenges and life events as everyone else in the wider public such as financial issues, ill health, bereavement, marital and family problems. As their job demands frequent absence from home, there is an added difficulty for pilots to establish and maintain sexual, marital and social relationships.
Disputes with a spouse, inability to spend time with children are examples of relationship difficulties that cause emotional upsets and affect mental wellbeing.
Warning Signs
There are several warning signs about a developing mental health situation of a pilot:
- Personality changes
- Uncharacteristic behaviour
- Anxiety attacks
- Anger
- Moodiness and isolation
- Lack of self-care and tardiness
- Risky behaviour and self-glorification
- A sense of hopelessness and social withdrawal
The following changing attributes can indicate deteriorating mental health:
- Irritability
- Sensitivity to criticism
- Loss of confidence
- Loss of sense of humour.
- Making more mistakes
- Not realising mistakes
- Poor decision making
- Inability to concentrate
- Degradation of performance
- Not being on time
- Unkempt appearance
- Rapid weight gain/loss and constant tiredness
Conclusion
It should not be construed that all pilots are unhappy or do not live fulfilling lives. Most pilots are highly motivated and enjoy high social status. They are rewarded well financially and the profession is inherently psychologically rewarding.
The human rights of persons with mental disorders need to be protected by organisational and public advocacy. There is a requirement to reduce the stigma often associated with mental health problems and the resulting discrimination. This can come only by raising awareness; creating an open and caring culture; continuous mental health appraisals by qualified psychologists. The survey by GOOSE Recruitment and FlightGlobal, 2020 also concluded that a high percentage of pilots felt that their employer did not encourage them to talk about their mental health. Among other findings, pilots rated “work-life balance” as the highest priority when choosing a flying job, ahead of salary, company culture, training, and career development. This, in the opinion of the author, is the key – aviation organizations must do all they can to enhance the work-life balance of aircrew to promote mental health.
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mental_health_in_aviation
https://www.skybrary.aero/index.php/Pilot_Mental_Health
http://www.infocoponline.es/pdf/SALUD-MENTAL-PILOTOS.pdf
RAF AP3456 Volume-6 Aviation Medicine and Survival
