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The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue (2011)

Chapter: Front Matter

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
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The Effects of Commuting
on Pilot Fatigue

Committee on the Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue

Board on Human-Systems Integration

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

Transportation Research Board

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
                         OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington, D.C.

www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS     500 Fifth Street, N.W.     Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by Grant No. DTFAWA-10-C-00115 between the National Academy of Sciences and the Federal Aviation Administration. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-21696-8
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-21696-6

Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, N.W., Lockbox 285, Washington, DC 20055; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313 (in the Washington metropolitan area); Internet, http://www.nap.edu

Copyright 2011 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2011). The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Committee on the Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue, Board on Human-Systems Integration. Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
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COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTS OF COMMUTING ON PILOT FATIGUE

Clinton V. Oster, Jr. (Chair), School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana University

Benjamin A. Berman, Senior Research Associate, Ames Research Center, U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

J. Lynn Caldwell, Senior Research Psychologist, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH

David F. Dinges, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

R. Curtis Graeber, The Graeber Group, Kirkland, WA

John K. Lauber,1 Independent Consultant, Vaughn, WA

David E. Meyer, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan

Matthew Rizzo, Department of Neurology, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and the Public Policy Center, University of Iowa

David J. Schroeder, Independent Consultant

J. Frank Yates, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan

Toby Warden, Study Director

Julie Schuck, Senior Program Associate

Eric Chen, Senior Project Assistant

Stephen Godwin, Liaison, Studies and Special Programs, Transportation Research Board

___________________

1Resigned from the committee in February 2011.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
×

BOARD ON HUMAN-SYSTEMS INTEGRATION
2010-2011

William S. Marras (Chair), Integrated Systems Engineering Department, Ohio State University

Pascale Carayon, Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Don Chaffin, Industrial and Operations Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan (Emeritus)

Nancy J. Cooke, Cognitive Science and Engineering, Arizona State University

Mary (Missy) Cummings, Aeronautics and Astronautics and Engineering Systems Division, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Sara J. Czaja, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Center on Aging, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Andrew S. Imada, A.S. Imada and Associates, Carmichael, CA

Waldemar Karwowski, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems, University of Central Florida

David Rempel, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco

Matthew Rizzo, Department of Neurology, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and the Public Policy Center, University of Iowa

Thomas B. Sheridan, Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics-Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Emeritus)

David H. Wegman, Department of Work Environment, University of Massachusetts, Lowell (Emeritus)

Howard M. Weiss, Department of Psychological Sciences, Purdue University

Barbara A. Wanchisen, Director

Mary Ellen O’Connell, Deputy Director

Christie R. Jones, Program Associate

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
×

Acknowledgments

This report is the work of the Committee on the Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue, a project of the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, overseen by the Board on Human-Systems Integration. The expertise and hard work of the committee were advanced by the support of our sponsor, the contributions of able consultants and staff, and the input of stakeholders. This study was congressionally mandated and sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration, and the support of their staff Jodi Baker, John Duncan, Dale E. Roberts, Kevin West, and Larry Youngblut were much appreciated.

The committee also benefited from presentations by Lori Brown, faculty specialist, Western Michigan University College of Aviation; Bob Coffman, Coalition of Airline Pilots Association; Captain William McDonald, FedEx; Captain Bill Mims, retired; Jeff Moller, assistant vice president, Operations Systems and Practices, Association of American Railroads; Thomas Nesthus, Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Federal Aviation Administration; Jessica Nowinski, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Research Center; pilot Charlotte O’Connell; George Paul, director, Technical Services, National Air Carriers Association; Mark Rosekind, member, National Transportation Safety Board; Steven Sargent, Compass Airlines; Jeff Skiles, U.S. Airline Pilots Association; Captain Bill Soer; and Irving Statler, NASA Ames Research Center. Comments at committee meetings provided by other stakeholders and guests in attendance were also valuable.

Additionally, the committee wishes to thank the 33 airlines who provided information in response to the committee’s request for input (see Appendix B) and the following aviation-related associations who also provided

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
×

input: Cargo Airline Association, Coalition of Airline Pilots Associations, National Air Carriers Association, and U.S. Airline Pilots Association. This input was critical in allowing the committee to better understand pilot commuting.

To the NRC staff, special thanks are due to Barbara Wanchisen and Mary Ellen O’Connell of the Board on Human-Systems Integration and Stephen Godwin of the Transportation Research Board who provided oversight and support of the study. Thanks also to senior project assistant Eric Chen who provided administrative and logistical support over the course of the study as well as preliminary analysis for the zip code data. We also thank Daniel Cork, senior program officer with the Committee on National Statistics, for his additional statistical analyses; Julie Schuck, senior program associate, for her support with editing and writing; and Cherie Chauvin, program officer, for her help with editing and graphics.

We also thank Jessica Scheer for her assistance with the committee’s analysis of the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking comments and Susan Van Hemel for her assistance with fact checking and editing. And finally we thank the executive office reports staff of the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, especially Eugenia Grohman, who provided valuable help with the editing and production of the report, and Kirsten Sampson Snyder, who managed the report review process. We would also like to thank Tony Klausing of Indiana University for his assistance with the analysis of the aircraft departure data.

John Lauber, who resigned from the committee in February 2011, provided additional unpaid consultation on the report; we were fortunate to continue to benefit from his expertise after his resignation.

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process.

We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Evan Byrne, Human Performance and Survival Factors Division, National Transportation Safety Board; Paul Fischbeck, Department of Engineering and Public Policy and Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Center for the Study and Improvement of Regulation, Carnegie Mellon University; R. John Hansman, T. Wilson Professor of Aeronautics & Astronautics, MIT International Center for Air Transportation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; John Marshall, aviation consultant,

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
×

Atlanta, GA; James C. Miller, human factors consultant, San Antonio, TX; John O’Brien, aviation consultant, VA; Joseph P. Ornato, Department of Emergency Medicine, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA; Barbara Phillips, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Kentucky; Nicholas Sabatini, aviation consultant, Alexandria, VA; and Nita Lewis Shattuck, Human Systems Integration Program, Operations Research Department, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Richard W. Pew, principal scientist, Raytheon BBN Technologies, Cambridge, MA, as coordinator and and Floyd E. Bloom, Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience Department, The Scripps Research Institute, as review monitor. Appointed by the NRC, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

Clinton V. Oster, Jr., Chair
Toby Warden, Study Director
Committee on the Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." Transportation Research Board and National Research Council. 2011. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13201.
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Nearly everyone experiences fatigue, but some professions—such as aviation, medicine and the military—demand alert, precise, rapid, and well-informed decision making and communication with little margin for error. The potential for fatigue to negatively affect human performance is well established. Concern about this potential in the aviation context extends back decades, with both airlines and pilots agreeing that fatigue is a safety concern. A more recent consideration is whether and how pilot commuting, conducted in a pilot's off-duty time, may affect fatigue during flight duty.

In summer 2010 the U.S. Congress directed the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to update the federal regulations that govern pilot flight and duty time, taking into account recent research related to sleep and fatigue. As part of their directive, Congress also instructed FAA to have the National Academy of Sciences conduct a study on the effects of commuting on pilot fatigue. The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue reviews research and other information related to the prevalence and characteristics of commuting; to the science of sleep, fatigue, and circadian rhythms; to airline and regulatory oversight policies; and to pilot and airline practices.

The Effects of Commuting on Pilot Fatigue discusses the policy, economic, and regulatory issues that affect pilot commuting, and outlines potential next steps, including recommendations for regulatory or administrative actions, or further research by the FAA.

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