A major study has revealed that pilots and cabin crew at European airlines are feeling increasingly pressured to work long hours and conceal signs of tiredness, a situation that is occurring at the expense of safety.

The research from Belgium's Ghent University found that, due to cost-cutting and profit-chasing, which have "systemically weakened" safety, many exhausted airline employees now feel too intimidated to challenge management decisions.

The study, which involved 6,900 workers, also revealed that cabin crew feel pressured to make onboard sales of perfumes and alcohol, a requirement that conflicts with their essential role of ensuring passenger safety and well-being. The report additionally found that COVID-19 accelerated the decline in working conditions.

A generation of pilots 'fly' off 

Researchers stated that the industry has seen a generation of senior pilots leave, to be replaced by younger, cheaper, and more flexible workers who are more likely to accept precarious contracts, thereby weakening their ability to uphold standards.

Regarding their confidence in pushing back against decisions that felt potentially unsafe, more than half of the survey respondents indicated that they did not feel able to "modify instructions" from management on the basis of safety objections. 

Compared to a 2014 Ghent University study, where 82% of pilots felt empowered to adjust instructions, the current findings show a decline: roughly 30% of pilots now occasionally hesitate to make safety decisions due to concerns about their professional careers. 

“The shift toward in-flight sales responsibilities risks diluting the safety-centric nature of cabin crew work, creating role conflict, psychosocial strain, and legal ambiguities,” stated the study’s authors, Yves Jorens and Lien Valcke, adding that “while commercial pressures may make such practices attractive for airlines, they come at a cost to worker wellbeing, safety standards and professional integrity.”

Swiss cheese model

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The study's participants referred to a "Swiss cheese model," explaining that its safety layers are being "systematically weakened (poking extra holes) for financial reasons" and that this leaves the final barrier to accidents dependent on chance and luck rather than robust protection.

The researchers found that the growing dominance of low-cost carriers and a rebound in air traffic after the pandemic are pressuring crew to work longer shifts with fewer opportunities to rest, leading 42% of all crew to say that management prioritizes scheduling over safety.

Because fatigue is a persistent problem and staff often feel they cannot ask for rest even when tired or unwell, nearly one in three pilots and almost half of all cabin crew admit they sometimes hesitate to declare themselves unfit to fly.

After being asked for their views, which were shared anonymously, one crew member said, "I feel like a criminal just for being sick," while another reported their European base manager shouting, "You're here to fucking sell."

Others complained of not feeling valued, with one employee stating that their airline “treats me as a [number] and nothing else, there is no regard for mental wellbeing or physical wellbeing, it prides itself in profit over human wellbeing, it has a poor toxic workplace culture and a culture of fear,” a fear which originates from the amount of people they sack for silly reasons.

The questioning regarding their health and whether they felt airlines cared about their personal goals and wellbeing revealed that 68% of all crew fell below the positive threshold for mental health and that 78% considered themselves "dehumanised."

Atypical employment

The research identified concerns regarding atypical employment, which includes short-term or self-employed contracts as well as agency work, as opposed to direct employment by the airline, because these particular groups reported experiencing worse conditions and lower levels of well-being.

The research showed that younger age groups and those working in eastern European nations, such as Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, were more likely to hold atypical positions compared to older crew, with 41% of the under-21s and 52% of eastern Europeans being on atypical contracts.

According to the authors, the intensity of work had increased compared with a decade ago as a result of digitalisation, automation, and higher passenger volumes, which left less time for crew to perform their tasks effectively.

“A concerning trend is the increasing use of ‘management by fear,’ where wellbeing is not explicitly linked to safety outcomes,” the authors claimed, adding, “Atypical work hasn’t disappeared, and the risks it created a decade ago are now felt across the whole sector.”

The authors stated that without improvements to rules and contracts, Europe’s aviation industry risked losing its "safety edge".

“Labour conditions are no longer just a social issue – they have an impact on safety, wellbeing and fatigue that are all interrelated. Without fair and stable employment, we cannot sustain a safe and resilient European aviation sector,” said Jorens.