World Sleep Day – Make Sleep Health a Priority for Air Traffic Controllers

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by The IFATCA Mental Wellbeing Task Force

 

The operational demands in aviation continue to evolve, as technology does, but human physiology remains unchanged. An imbalance of physical and mental demands, as well as a lack of sleep results in different health damages such as fatigue.
 

We are meant to spend about a third of our lives asleep. The optimal amount of sleep per night varies between individuals, but most healthy adults require between 7 to 9 hours. Sleep science makes it very clear that sleep cannot be sacrificed without consequences. Sleep has vital roles in memory and learning, in maintaining alertness, performance, mood and in overall health and wellbeing1.


Sleep is a behavior whose main function is to restore energy. In humans, several days of not sleeping properly can make it difficult to concentrate and complete tasks, or even produce mild hallucinations2. Some levels of sleep deprivation can impact on performance in a similar way to that produced by alcohol intoxication of at least a Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) of 0.05%. At the end of being awake for 17 to 19 hours, performance levels are low enough to be accepted in many countries as incompatible with safe driving3.

Sleep deprivation may cause mental fatigue which can lead to a reduction in a person’s reaction times, which increases the risk of suffering an accident. This is because the person may miss important information and therefore make more mistakes then when working with detailed information. Due to fatigue, people  can experience a decrease in their sustained attention as well as failures in monitoring their surroundings, known as loss of situational awareness4.
 
Not sleeping well can affect the decision-making process, causing a cognitive decline in humans, leading them to act impulsively and to them trying to avoid stressful situations. A person with sleep deprivation will have impaired judgement, bad mood and erratic behavior, which can cause them to make bad decisions at
critical moments5.
 

In aviation, a 24/7 industry, air traffic controllers have to work extended hours, night shifts and a rotating work schedule. In these conditions, getting a good night’s sleep could be very difficult. This is why sleep health should be a priority. ATCOs need a good quality sleep to be ready for duty.

 
On this World Sleep Day, the scientific evidence is clear, your sleep is essential to health, wellbeing and an optimal performance at work. Good sleep promotes wellness and resilience while poor sleep impacts your body and mind negatively. Taking care of your mind is as important as your body, so sleep is just as important as nutrition or exercise. For people who cannot necessarily sleep at night, creating a relaxing environment for sleep and a good schedule is really important6.
 
Sleep health is multidimensional, and it means more than simply “enough sleep”. There are six dimensions that affect sleep health and consequently overall wellbeing: Duration, efficiency, timing, regularity, alertness and quality. Remember each person’s everyday life is unique, so there is not just a single method to improve your sleep health, each one of you needs to consider their circumstances individually6.


At the end of the day, we are all human and, physiologically, our bodies need sleep for mental rest. Therefore, we need to practice good sleep hygiene to improve the time we use for sleep by taking actions such as having a quiet and dark bedroom, relaxing before bedtime with activities such as going for a walk or meditating, avoiding caffeine and tobacco, maintaining a healthy diet and not eating too much before bed, avoiding screen time on mobile phones and televisions, and sticking to a healthy routine, all these could benefit our health and give us a better rest.

Factors such as sleep deprivation and fatigue could cause accidents, in our personal lives or at work in the aviation environment. So, making good decisions related to our sleep will improve aviation safety and our mental wellbeing. 

It is a team effort, we need to take care of ourselves, but also more institutional policies and regulations are needed, but if we don´t start by taking care of our own health, no one else will. Sleep is a really important behaviour in our lives. As air traffic controllers we have a responsibility not only for ourselves, but for thousands of people who travel by plane every single day.

Having good sleep hygiene, which allows our brain to recover from the wear of our job, will increase our quality of life and will allow us to perform at optimal levels, reducing the possibility of making a human error.

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References

1 International Civil Aviation Organization. Doc 9966. Manual for the Oversight of Fatigue Management Approaches [2nd ed. Version 2 – Revised]; 2020. Available from: https://elibrary.icao.int/product/234625

2  Carlson, NR & Birkett, M. Physiology of Behavior [Global Edition, 13th]. Pearson Education Limited; 2023.

3 Williamson, AM & Feyer, AM. Moderate sleep deprivation produces impairments in cognitive and motor performance equivalent to legally prescribed levels of alcohol intoxication. Occupational & Environmental Medicine Journal 57(10); 2020. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1136/oem.57.10.649

4 Al-Mekhlafi, A et al. The relationship between fatigue and driving performance: A review and directions for future research. Journal of Critical Reviews 7(14); 2020. Available from: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/THE-RELATIONSHIP-BETWEEN-FATIGUE-AND-DRIVING-A-AND-Al-Mekhlafi-Isha/dd79e7c185d2da996520e18f0521f7d0045976aa

5 Pignatiello, G et al. Decision fatigue: A concept analysis. Journal of health psychology 25(1); 2020. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1177/13591053187635

6 DelRosso, L & Han, F. 2025 Theme: Make Sleep Health a Priority. World Sleep Society;
2025. Available from: https://worldsleepday.org/toolkit