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Irregular working hours and fatigue of cabin crew.

BACKGROUND
Beyond workload and specific environmental factors, flight attendants can be exposed to irregular working hours, conflicting with their circadian rhythms and having a negative impact in sleep, fatigue, health, social and family life, and performance which is critical to both safety and security in flight operations.


OBJECTIVE
This study focuses on the irregular schedules of cabin crew as a trigger of fatigue symptoms in a wet lease Portuguese airline. The aim was to analyze: what are the requirements of the cabin crew work; whether the schedules being observed and effective resting timeouts are triggering factors of fatigue; and the existence of fatigue symptoms in the cabin crew.


METHODS
A questionnaire has been adapted and applied to a sample of 73 cabin crew-members (representing 61.9% of the population), 39 females and 34 males, with an average age of 27.68 ± 4.27 years.


RESULTS
Our data indicate the presence of fatigue and corresponding health symptoms among the airline cabin crew, despite of the sample favorable characteristics. Senior workers and women are more affected.


CONCLUSIONS
Countermeasures are required. Recommendations can be made regarding the fatigue risk management, including work organization, education and awareness training programmes and specific countermeasures.