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The Relationship between Workload, Performance and Fatigue in a Short-Haul AirlineShort-haul flights are associated with irregular work schedules and increased workload, due to frequent takeoffs and landings. We examined the relationship between pilot workload, performance and subjective fatigue during normal short-haul operations. Ninety airline pilots (8 female), mean age 33 (±8 years) completed a NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), a Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT; a reaction time test sensitive to sleep loss) and a Samn-Perelli (SP) fatigue scale, over a period of 20 duty days at top-of-descent on 2762 short-haul flights. The duty days included either 2 or 4 flights per day starting at different times as scheduled during normal operations. Workload was measured using the six NASA-TLX scales: mental demand, physical demand, temporal demand, effort, performance and frustration. Lapses (reaction times [RT] > 500ms) were calculated for the PVT. Spearman correlations were calculated to identify relationships between the NASA-TLX, PVT lapses, and SP. The six scales of NASA-TLX were positively correlated with the PVT lapses (p < 0.01) showing an increase in workload when lapses increased. There was a positive correlation between subjective fatigue as measured by the SP fatigue scale and each of the six scales of NASA-TLX (p < 0.001) suggesting that pilots reported higher workload when perceived levels of fatigue were higher. Of the six workload scales, mental demand and performance were rated the highest (mental: M = 40.99, SD = 20.32; performance: M = 41.61, SD = 20.71) and effort was rated the lowest (M = 15.59, SD = 8.98). Preliminary analyses suggest that high workload is associated with poorer PVT performance and increased self-reported fatigue in this population of short-haul pilots. Future studies should explore how other workload factors (i.e. flight hours, time of day) influence self-reported and objective fatigue measures.
Document ID
20190030809
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Poster
Authors
Arsintescu, Lucica
(San Jose State Univ. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Chachad, Ravi G.
(San Jose State Univ. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Gregory, Kevin B.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Mulligan, Jeffrey B.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Flynn-Evans, Erin E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
September 16, 2019
Publication Date
September 9, 2019
Subject Category
Air Transportation And Safety
Behavioral Sciences
Report/Patent Number
ARC-E-DAA-TN73077
Meeting Information
Meeting: International Symposium on Shiftwork and Working Time
Location: Coeur d'Alene, ID
Country: United States
Start Date: September 9, 2019
End Date: September 13, 2019
Sponsors: Washington State Univ.
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX17AE07A
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
Keywords
TLX
workload
fatigue
PVT
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