Sustainable Flight Safety - Information for Study Participants

What is the project about, and why are you being asked to participate?

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet are conducting the project Sustainable Flight Safety. The project aims to investigate how changes in employment and working conditions in commercial aviation relate to cabin crew’s and pilots’ health and the consequences for flight safety. Specifically, we aim to:

• Examine how deregulation and cost-cutting within commercial aviation relate to cabin crew’s and pilots’ employment and working conditions.
• Identify which working conditions are primary risk factors for stress, ill-health, and attending work unfit.
• Investigate the consequences of working conditions and potential stress-related illhealth on flight safety.

Based on the results, we aim to develop practical recommendations that can be used to improve both the working environment and flight safety within commercial aviation.

We are now inviting individuals working as cabin crew or pilots in Europe to participate in a survey on air crew working conditions, health, and onboard safety practices.

The principal investigator of the project is Karolinska Institutet. The principal investigator is the organization responsible for the study.

How will the study be conducted?

The study is a web-based survey. Your responses are valuable for understanding current working conditions among cabin crew and pilots and for identifying how the working environment and flight safety practices can be improved.

The survey takes approximately 10-30 minutes to complete and covers multiple aspects of the organizational and social work environment, including job demands, work organization and content, collaboration and leadership, the workplace social environment, and health-related topics. Most questions are answered on a five-point scale, but there are also a few open-text questions.

Your responses will contribute to increased knowledge about cabin crew’s working conditions, health, and flight safety.

Possible Risks and Discomforts

Participation in the study does not involve any risks or discomfort.

What happens to your information?

The project will collect and register information about you.
The personal data collected are those you provide in the survey, which may include your answers and, if applicable, your contact information such as name and email address.

Your personal data and any other data collected during the study are protected under the Swedish Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act (2009:400) and the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR; EU 2016/679). This means that everyone involved in the study is bound by confidentiality, and no unauthorized individuals will have access to your data. Outsiders — such as employers, union representatives, or journalists — will not see your answers or even know that you participated in the study.

All statistical results will be reported in aggregate form (e.g., as averages for groups), so it will never be possible to trace your individual answers. Your data will be handled according to regulations governing public documents and archiving
by public authorities. Your personal data will be stored for 10 years after the project has ended, in accordance with Karolinska Institutet’s official document management policy.

If certain documents are deemed to be of significant scientific or public interest, they may be preserved indefinitely, based on an assessment by the research team.

Karolinska Institutet is a government authority and is required to comply with regulations concerning public documents, official archives, and public statistics. Therefore, your personal data will also be processed as necessary to comply with applicable legislation.

The purpose of processing your personal data is to fulfill the objectives of this study and answer the research questions about cabin crew’s working conditions, health, and safety work. The legal basis for processing your personal data is that it is necessary to perform a task in the public interest (Article 6.1 e, GDPR), meaning the data is essential for conducting research. The processing of sensitive personal data is based on its necessity for scientific research purposes and is carried out in accordance with the Swedish Ethical Review Act (Article 9.2 j, GDPR).

Your answers and data will be handled to prevent unauthorized access.

Karolinska Institutet is the data controller for your personal data. According to GDPR, you have the right to access the information collected about you, and to request corrections if needed. You can also request that your data be deleted or that processing be restricted. 

To access your data, contact Marika Melin (Nobels väg 9, 171 77 Solna, Phone: +46 70 424 86 55). The Data Protection Officer can be reached at dataskyddsombud@ki.se.

If you are dissatisfied with how your data is being handled, you have the right to file a complaint with the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY).

Ethical approvals

The project has recieved ethical approval from the Sweish Ethical Review Authority.
(Pilots: Dnr 2016/250-31, 2021-05750-02, 2023-02218-02, 2025-03113-02 Cabin Crew: Dnr 2020-04055, 2022-01660-02, 2022-04970-02, 2023-02217-02, 2025-03112-02)

Contacts

If you have any questions regarding the content of the survey, please contact Filippa Folke, PhD student at Karolinska Institutet, Department of Clinical Neuroscience. E-mail: filippa.folke@ki.se or Phone: +46 734414115