The 33% of Spanish airline pilots based in the country acknowledge suffering from microsleeps recurrently during flight operations, a proportion only surpassed by Malta (39%) and Ireland (36%). This is derived from the "Survey on European Pilot Fatigue. 2026," driven by the European Cockpit Association (ECA) and prepared by Baines Simmons, based on a sample of 7,200 pilots from 31 European states.
Furthermore, 41% of Spanish professionals claim not to have adequate rest periods, a figure only exceeded by Ireland (46.4%), Italy (43%), and Malta (42%).
In light of these results, the Spanish Airline Pilots Union (Sepla), through its technical director, Iñigo Martín, has warned that the absence of a solid system for managing and mitigating fatigue can lead to an increase in human errors and, consequently, a greater risk to aviation safety.
For the union organization, reporting systems constitute the first essential element to address the "necessary" management of fatigue. "This information is fundamental for airlines to adopt mitigating measures and reduce risk. However, the ECA study reflects that less than 4 out of every 10 European pilots who acknowledged not being fit to fly due to fatigue reported their situation to the company," he pointed out.
Among the factors explaining the low level of notifications, the fear of retaliation stands out: 47% of respondents who flew fatigued admit to fearing being sanctioned or suffering negative consequences for submitting a fatigue report.
The survey also shows a strong distrust in the procedure: only 12% of pilots claim to trust their airline's fatigue reporting system, while only 11.3% consider the reports to be useful.
In the specific case of Spain, only 8.5% of pilots trust the reporting system, a rate lower than the European average and far from countries like the Netherlands (32.4%), Belgium (19.4%), or Portugal (18.6%). Likewise, only 10.2% perceive that fatigue reports lead to real changes in flight schedules, also below the average in Europe.
Reinforce regulations on flight and rest times
In this context, Sepla reminds that the main tool to mitigate fatigue in the European sphere is the Flight Time Limitations (FTL), which must be complemented with proactive fatigue risk management strategies by the companies.
"However, many operators tend to use those limits as regular targets to optimize productivity, instead of establishing margins to ensure that the limits are only reached occasionally," indicated Martín.
Therefore, the union demands that the Spanish Aviation Safety Agency (AESA) carry out direct and immediate operational inspections to verify the robustness of the schedules and the actual effectiveness of the Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRM) implemented by the airlines operating in Spain.