Effects of Commuting on Crewmember Fatigue

Brown, L., Whitehurst, G., (2011) “The Effects of commuting on Pilot Fatigue” International Symposium on Aviation Psychology Proceedings pg. 422, May 2-5, 2011. Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio.

6 Pages Posted: 14 Oct 2013 Last revised: 13 Mar 2014

See all articles by Lori Brown

Lori Brown

Western Michigan University, College of Aviation

Geoff Whitehurst

Western Michigan University, College of Aviation

Date Written: October 13, 2012

Abstract

The need to reduce accidents and incidents caused by human fatigue in the aviation industry remains on the National Transportation Safety Boards’ (NTSB), most wanted list. At many airlines, crewmembers are forced to work to the point of exhaustion because of: poorly scheduled duty time; lengthened duty days; minimum scheduled rest requirements; working the backside of the clock, multiple short-haul legs; and long commutes to work. Although, commuting, in the context of aviation, has yet to be defined, the U.S. Census Bureau defines an "extreme commute" as a travel 90 minutes or more, each way to work. Americans who endure a daily "extreme commute" of 90 minutes or more each way to work, is a rapidly increasing number which is now in excess of 3.4 million (Alexander, 2009). A recent pilot study by Western Michigan University, the NTSB report following the Colgan Air crash (NTSB, 2010; pp. 47-48) and information from Airtran Airways in a workers’ compensation case (WC, 07-00328, 2008) suggest that this could include a significant number of commuters from the aviation industry.

Keywords: pilot, commute, colgan, 3407, PL 111-26, NTSB, Lori Brown, WMU, fatigue, airline, aircraft safety, law, transportation, dot, crewmember, human factors, aviation safety, accidents, incidents, travel, transportation law

JEL Classification: Q00, R00, N00, J00, K00, D00, E00, F00, G00

Suggested Citation

Brown, Lori J. and Whitehurst, Geoff, Effects of Commuting on Crewmember Fatigue (October 13, 2012). Brown, L., Whitehurst, G., (2011) “The Effects of commuting on Pilot Fatigue” International Symposium on Aviation Psychology Proceedings pg. 422, May 2-5, 2011. Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2339753 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2339753

Lori J. Brown (Contact Author)

Western Michigan University, College of Aviation ( email )

Kalamazoo, MI 49008
United States

Geoff Whitehurst

Western Michigan University, College of Aviation

Kalamazoo, MI 49008
United States

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