Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) has warned that pilot fatigue poses a serious safety risk across European aviation after a survey found widespread microsleep and insufficient rest among flight crew. The Baines Simmons study, commissioned by the European Cockpit Association, gathered responses from 7,200 pilots in 32 countries. It found that 76.8% had experienced at least one microsleep while operating an aircraft during the previous four weeks, while 38.8% usually or always lacked enough rest to prevent cumulative fatigue.
The survey also highlighted weaknesses in fatigue reporting. Only 37.2% of respondents said they normally declared themselves unfit to fly when fatigue affected their fitness, while 24.2% reported continuing to fly without reporting the condition. Pilots cited irregular rosters, long working hours, time-zone changes and pressure to extend duties or use the maximum permitted flight-time limits as contributing factors.
VC safety board member Anja Granvogl described the participation level as giving the findings considerable weight. The union is calling on airlines to improve safety and reporting cultures, and on regulators to enforce existing fatigue-management rules more consistently and close regulatory gaps. The figures are self-reported experiences from pilots rather than independently verified accident or safety statistics.