In Part 1 of our Watch for Fatigue series, we looked at fatigue as an organisational safety risk: how we plan operations, design rosters, monitor what actually happens, encourage and learn from fatigue reports and ensure that Commander’s Discretion remains genuinely exceptional and embedded in a positive safety culture environment.
But there is another side to the story.
Ultimately, aviation depends on people arriving at work operationally ready and fit to perform safely.
Fatigue is an important part of that, but it isn't the whole picture.
Our physical health, psychological wellbeing, workload, stress, quality of rest and the conditions in which we work can all influence our capacity to perform.
Watch for Fatigue should also prompt a wider conversation about how we look after ourselves, each other and the everyday working environment that shapes our performance.
Fit for Duty Is More Than “Not Too Tired”
When we talk about fitness for duty, fatigue naturally gets much of the attention.
But operational readiness is broader than sleep and alertness.
Someone can technically have had enough time away from work and still not be ready to perform at their best. Illness, poor-quality sleep, accumulated fatigue, medication, stress or psychological strain can all affect concentration, decision-making, communication and performance.
The question therefore shouldn't only be:
“Have I had the required rest?”
It should also be:
“Am I genuinely ready to perform safely today?”
That is a professional judgement every bit as important as the other decisions aviation professionals make during an operation.
Creating the Conditions for People to Perform
It is important that fitness for duty cannot simply be placed on the individual. Organisations create many of the routine conditions in which people work and recover.
Roster design, workload, staffing levels, predictability of duties, opportunities for rest, operational pressure, management behaviour and the way people are treated when they raise concerns can all affect fatigue, wellbeing and ultimately performance.
This is where fatigue management connects with the wider concept of psychosocial health and safety.
A demanding job is not automatically an unsafe one. Aviation will always involve periods of pressure, complexity and disruption. The important question is whether organisations understand the conditions they are creating and manage the associated risks.
Are workloads routinely achievable? Do people have sufficient opportunity to recover? Is excessive pressure becoming normal? Do managers recognise signs that teams are struggling? And can people raise concerns about fatigue, workload or wellbeing without worrying about how that will be perceived or whether it might have negative consequences for them?
Creating good routine working conditions does not remove individual responsibility.
It makes it possible for people to exercise that responsibility effectively.
Watch for It in Each Other
One difficulty with fatigue and with declining wellbeing more generally is that we are not always particularly good at recognising changes in ourselves.
Reduced concentration, slower reactions, irritability, forgetfulness or poorer decision-making can develop gradually. A colleague may simply seem quieter than usual, distracted or not quite themselves.
That is why Watch for Fatigue has two meanings.
- Watch for it in yourself.
- But also watch for it in each other.
Sometimes a simple question is enough:
“Are you OK?”
That isn't about diagnosing somebody or making assumptions about their health. It is about noticing people and creating a working environment where colleagues look out for one another.
This is where the “Together” part of our summer campaign becomes very practical.
Rest and Recovery Are Part of the Job
Individuals have responsibilities too. As we highlighted in Part 1, operators have a responsibility to create workable rosters, manage fatigue risk, and foster a positive safety culture. Crew members also have a responsibility to make appropriate use of the rest opportunities provided to them.
Rest isn't simply the time when we're not working. Recovery is part of preparing for work.
That becomes particularly important as the summer progresses. Life outside aviation doesn't necessarily become quieter because the operation becomes busier, and work and life draw on the same human capacity.
Nobody needs to live their life around a roster. But in a safety-critical profession, we do need to recognise the relationship between recovery and our ability to perform.
The responsibility therefore works both ways:
The organisation needs to create reasonable conditions for people to work and recover. Individuals need to use the opportunities available to look after their fitness for duty.
Sometimes the Professional Decision Is “I'm Not Fit”
There will still be occasions when, despite everyone's best efforts, somebody is simply not fit to perform their duties safely.
Perhaps they haven't recovered from a demanding sequence of duties. Perhaps they haven't slept. Perhaps they are unwell. Perhaps something affecting their wellbeing means they are not currently able to perform as they normally would.
At that point, professionalism doesn't mean pushing through.
It means recognising the situation and speaking up.
EASA's Fatigue Risk Management guidance is clear that no crew member should feel pressured to work when they are sick, fatigued or otherwise unfit for duty. The same message was reinforced at EASA's 2026 FTL/FRM Conference: reporting unfit for duty when your ability to perform safely is undermined is part of professional responsibility.
Saying “I'm not fit” can be a safety action. Speaking Up Requires Someone to Listen
Of course, telling people to speak up is easy.
Creating an environment where they genuinely feel able to do so is harder.
People notice how organisations respond when somebody declares themselves fatigued or unfit. They notice whether a concern about workload or wellbeing is taken seriously. And they notice what happens to colleagues whose decisions inconvenience the operation.
Part 1 made this point in relation to Commander’s Discretion: a process can be described as non-punitive on paper while being lived very differently in practice.
The same principle applies here.
If people believe there is a personal price for saying “I'm struggling” or “I'm not fit”, they may remain silent. And will simply push on.
And once people stop speaking up, the organisation risks getting blind as to where its issues are. As a result, it loses an important opportunity to manage the risk.
A healthy safety culture therefore doesn't simply allow people to raise concerns.
It encourages to speak up and listens, responds and learns from what those concerns are telling the organisation about the conditions in which people are working.
Operationally Ready Together
Being operationally ready is therefore neither solely an individual nor solely an organisational responsibility.
Organisations need to create conditions that support sustainable performance: sensible planning, manageable workloads, adequate recovery opportunities, supportive leadership and a positive safety culture where concerns can be raised.
Individuals need to look after their own readiness, use rest opportunities appropriately and recognise when something is affecting their ability to perform.
Colleagues need to look out for one another.
And leaders need to listen to what people are telling them.
As we move through another demanding part of the summer season, perhaps the most useful questions are very simple:
Am I OK?
Are the people around me OK?
Are the conditions we are creating helping people to perform safely?
And if the answer to any of those questions is no, what are we going to do about it?
Watch for fatigue. Look after your wellbeing. Look out for each other. And create the conditions where everyone can perform at their best.
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