WASHINGTON — One in five airline pilots lives at least 750 miles from work, according to a study by scientific advisers to the government, raising concerns that long commutes to airports could lead to fatigue in the cockpit.
The calculations were based on home addresses of more than 25,000 pilots. Six percent of pilots listed a primary residence at least 1,500 miles from the airline base where they begin flights, according to a National Research Council report released Wednesday. Although a significant share of pilots list addresses hundreds of miles from their base, it’s not clear that they routinely begin their commutes to work from those addresses, the report said.
The council admitted it is difficult to determine the safety risk associated with long commutes without more data about the practices of individual pilots. Unions and airlines long have maintained that pilots can safely commute long distances to work if they act responsibly.
“To have a hard- and-fast rule that covers everybody is almost impossible. In some cases it might help, and in some cases it might hurt,” said Jeff Skiles, first officer of US Airways Flight 1549 that ditched into New York’s Hudson River two years ago. The Associated Press; AP file photo
