Icelandair survey finds more than half of pilots slept during work

More than half of Icelandair’s pilots said they had unintentionally fallen asleep while working on board during a three-month period this summer, according to a survey by the Icelandic Association of Airline Pilots, FÍA, reported by mbl.is.

Of the 508 pilots who took part, around 80 percent of the association’s members, 286 said they had fallen asleep unintentionally while on duty. One third of those respondents said it had happened more than once. The results were also reported by Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, RÚV.

An aviation source who spoke to Morgunblaðið said the issue was primarily about employment terms. In the source’s view, the union was seeking to reverse concessions made in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic was under way and significant changes were made to the pilots’ contracts to make their deployment more flexible.

“This is just playacting and nothing else,” the source said, arguing that the survey was part of the pilots’ efforts to return the working arrangements to their previous form.

Icelandair introduced a system alongside the 2020 agreements to account for possible pilot fatigue when preparing work schedules. A committee with representatives of pilots, cabin crew and Icelandair regularly reviews union reports on the issue.

The airline’s operations involve flights both east and west across multiple time zones, increasing the possibility of fatigue caused by time differences. The system is intended to make the best use of pilots’ working capacity while indicating how their schedules should be arranged in light of possible fatigue and other factors.

According to sources cited by Morgunblaðið, the survey’s findings conflict with the system and Icelandair’s monitoring. The sources also said pilots needed to take greater responsibility for using their time off to rest, adding that it was not uncommon for pilots to have another job. Expert analyses reportedly indicated that the pilots’ schedules should not have produced the result shown by the survey.

The matter is being reviewed by the transport authority, according to communications director Þórhildur Elín Elínardóttir. Morgunblaðið was unable to reach Jón Þór Þorvaldsson, chairman of FÍA, while preparing the report.