Pilots’ union says the issue has become a ‘worrying reality’ as a result of staff shortages and operation pressure
A German pilots’ union has said that napping during flights has become a “worrying reality” for its members, as it sounded the alarm over “increasing fatigue” in the sector.
The Vereinigung Cockpit union said it had carried out a survey of more than 900 pilots in recent weeks, which found that 93% of them admitted to napping during a flight in the past few months.
While cautioning that the survey was “not representative”, the union said 12% nap on every flight, 44% do so regularly, 33% nap occasionally, 3% napped as a one-off and 7% could no longer count how often they napped.
“Napping has long become the norm in German cockpits,” said Katharina Dieseldorff, the vice-president of the union, which represents 10,000 pilots, cockpit workers and trainees.
