Zhou Yanru, Li Jingqiang, Zhang Huanxi, Zhang Xining
Safety Science and Engineering College, Civil Aviation University of China, No. 2898 Jinbei Highway Dongli District Tianjin, Tianjin, 300300, China.
BMC Public Health. 2025 May 22;25(1):1890. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-23061-z.
Pilots are crucial to the safety of the airline industry; as a result, their sleep and biorhythm, which are closely related to fatigue, play an important role. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Civil Aviation Administration of China exempted flight crews from mandatory layovers and imposed limitations on duty period and flight times. Given that the effect of this policy on their sleep and biorhythm is poorly understood, this study explores the key factors affecting the sleep and biorhythm of pilots on intercontinental flights and compares the rest status on and after flying days on exempt and non-exempt flights. Eighty pilots flying from China to five countries wore a body movement recorder, which has been validated for estimating total sleep time, sleep efficiency, and interdaily stability. The results of the K-means clustering analysis showed differences in sleep and biorhythm on flying days between departures during the day and at night, west-east and north-south flights, and exempt and non-exempt flights. ANOVA was performed based on the categorization in which each indicator contributed significantly to the clustering (p = 0.000). This study contributes to the literature by validating a new intercontinental flight operation model under the COVID-19 pandemic conditions and proposes critical points for the future management of pilot fatigue on long-haul flights.
飞行员对航空业安全至关重要；因此，他们与疲劳密切相关的睡眠和生物节律起着重要作用。在新冠疫情期间，中国民航局免除了机组人员的强制中途停留，并对执勤期和飞行时间进行了限制。鉴于该政策对他们睡眠和生物节律的影响尚不清楚，本研究探讨了影响洲际航班飞行员睡眠和生物节律的关键因素，并比较了豁免航班和非豁免航班飞行日当天及之后的休息状态。80名从中国飞往五个国家的飞行员佩戴了一种身体活动记录仪，该记录仪已被验证可用于估计总睡眠时间、睡眠效率和每日稳定性。K均值聚类分析结果显示，白天和夜间出发、东西向和南北向航班以及豁免航班和非豁免航班飞行日的睡眠和生物节律存在差异。基于每个指标对聚类有显著贡献的分类进行了方差分析（p = 0.000）。本研究通过验证新冠疫情条件下的一种新的洲际航班运营模式，为文献做出了贡献，并提出了长途航班飞行员疲劳未来管理的关键点。
