Cabin Crew Alertness and Performance During Long-Haul Flights

INTRODUCTION:
-Sleep loss and circadian disruption pose a significant risk in aviation.
-Previous literature has shown that inflight rest facilities influence alertness and performance among pilots, but few studies have evaluated cabin crew.
-The aim of this research was to assess alertness and performance among cabin crew members sleeping in different rest locations during a long-haul out-and-back trip.

METHODS:
-Twenty-nine cabin crewmembers flew the same long-haul route (outbound and inbound).
-Participants were randomly assigned to fly on an aircraft with a bunk in both directions or to fly an aircraft with a bunk in one direction and with a high comfort jump seat (HCJS) in the other direction.
-Throughout the study they completed a Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) and a 5-minute Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) at the beginning and at the end of each flight.

RESULTS:
-A series of mixed-effects models were performed to assess the changes in KSS and PVT when crewmembers slept in the bunk during both directions of flight (bunk-only) compared to when sleep was obtained in the HCJS during one direction and bunk in the other (bunk + HCJS).
-There was no significant difference in KSS alertness between the two conditions.
- There were no significant differences in PVT response speed or lapses between the two conditions.

CONCLUSIONS:
-Limitations: small number of participants. Our study stopped abruptly because of the COVID-19 pandemic which limited our sample size.
-Further research is needed to understand how other factors such as duty start time and workload might influence the sleep of cabin crewmembers during long-haul flights.