EASA publishes Article 89 report on aviation safety and socio-economic factors

The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) published an assessment of the interdependencies between aviation safety and socio-economic factors affecting safety-critical personnel in Europe to ensure that socio-economic dimensions are adequately integrated into aviation safety analysis.

This is EASA's second report on this topic produced under Article 89 of Regulation (EU) 2018/1139. Article 89 requires EASA to review the interaction between aviation safety and socio-economic factors and to publish a report around every three years on actions undertaken in this area. To support the analytical and research work, EASA contracted specialized consultants, ALG Global Infrastructure Advisors, to design the methodology and independently conduct the analysis and interpretation of the results.

Throughout the project, EASA maintained regular engagement with a stakeholder focus group composed of the European social partner organizations, notably the European Cockpit Association (ECA) and European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF), as well as with relevant airline industry associations Airlines for Dialogue (A4D) and the European Regions Airline Association (ERA).

Building on the first Article 89 report published in 2021, the study combines several sources of evidence, including surveys of aviation professionals, occurrence reporting data from the European Central Repository (ECR), operational datasets and literature review. It is not intended as an evaluation of individual operators or specific business models.

The scope of the analysis covers flight crew, cabin crew and operational control center staff in scheduled commercial air transport operations with airplanes in the European Union.

Key findings

The report establishes that there are no substantive aviation safety concerns arising from socio-economic factors. It did not identify any major safety concerns or systemic causal relationship between socio-economic factors, including employment and working conditions, and adverse safety outcomes within the scope of the study. While socio-economic conditions may influence operational environments and personnel perceptions, the available evidence does not demonstrate a direct impact on safety performance.

Nonetheless, the study identified some areas that may require further attention. The most consistent factors observed across all sources were fatigue and lack of communication, with some type of operations potentially more exposed than others. Fatigue reporting has increased in recent years. Organisational communication issues also remained a prominent operational factor in varying contexts.

The report also highlights differences in perceived operational conditions between operator business models. However, these perception-based indicators did not necessarily translate directly into occurrence-level safety signals.

The study further identified important limitations in data availability, particularly regarding the collection of socio-economic and operational information needed to better understand the links between working conditions, operational practices and safety outcomes.

In response to these findings, EASA will further reinforce its work with Member States and industry stakeholders to improve data collection and safety outcomes. Further actions will involve targeted safety promotion, an emphasis on strengthening the reporting culture, safety oversight and further integration of socio-economic considerations into aviation safety analysis as applicable.

(article source: EASA / editor: Anton van Rijsbergen)