Analysis of Commute Times and Neurobehavioral Performance Capacity in Aviation Cabin Crew

Abstract

Fatigue-induced impairments in neurobehavioral performance capacity may compromise safety in 24-hr operational environments, and a potential contributing factor of special interest in commercial aviation is the influence of commute times prior to reporting for duty. However, no systematic field data exist regarding actual commute times in commercial aviation or the relationship between commute times and objective neurobehavioral performance capacity. To address these issues, the present study analyzed data from 807 one-way commute episodes and corresponding performances on standardized 5-min Psychomotor Vigilance Test (PVT) sessions by 160 active cabin crew from the 2009-2010 US Civil Aerospace Medical Institute-sponsored Flight Attendant Field Study (Roma et al., 2010). All eligible pre-work commute events were categorized as commutes originating from home at the start of a work trip ("Home," n=444) or commutes while away on a work trip ("Trip," n=363). Commute times from home were more widely distributed and positively skewed than commute times during a trip, and a univariate Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) controlling for reserve status, gender, and age confirmed that Home commutes were significantly longer than Trip commutes (mean+SEM: 81+3 vs. 31+3 min, p<.001). Next, we utilized separate ANCOVAs as above to examine commute times based on Carrier Type (Network, Low-Cost, Regional), Seniority (Senior, Mid, Junior), and Flight Operations (Domestic, International). Crew working for Network carriers had the longest Home and Trip commutes, although this effect was an artifact of Flight Operations, as follow-up analyses of domestic-only crew revealed no differences in commute times. Analysis of Seniority revealed no differences in Home commutes; however, Trip commutes of Mid and Junior level crew (33+2 and 34+2 min, respectively) were significantly longer than those of their Senior colleagues (23+3 min, ps<.01).

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 2012
Accession Number
ADA571651

Entities

People

  • Andrew M. Mead
  • Peter G. Roma
  • Steven R. Hursh
  • Thomas E. Nesthus

Organizations

  • Federal Aviation Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aerospace Medicine
  • Commercial Aircraft
  • Commercial Aviation
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Processing
  • Data Science
  • Databases
  • Descriptive Analytics
  • Domestic
  • Health Care
  • Human Factors Engineering
  • Information Science
  • Networks
  • Surveys
  • Transportation
  • United States
  • United States Government

Readers

  • Aquatic Ecology
  • Circadian Sleep-Wake Regulation and Chronobiology
  • Regression Analysis.

Technology Areas

  • Space