Evaluating Crew Fatigue Management Strategies in Aviation: A Fuzzy DEMATEL Approach

Crew fatigue is a significant issue in aviation, affecting both safety and operational performance. This study applies the Fuzzy DEMATEL method to evaluate and prioritize strategies for managing crew fatigue, based on expert input from 12 aviation professionals. The analysis identifies workload management as the most influential factor, with direct impacts on other key elements such as rest schedules and flight duration control. Real-time monitoring technologies also emerged as a critical tool, enabling more effective fatigue management by providing actionable data for adjusting crew schedules and mitigating risks in real-time. Flight duration, particularly on long-haul operations, was highlighted as a major contributor to cumulative fatigue. The novelty of this study lies in its use of Fuzzy DEMATEL to map the complex interdependencies between fatigue factors, providing a structured, data-driven framework for decision-making in aviation management. The findings offer practical insights for improving crew performance and safety by prioritizing strategies that directly target the most influential causes of fatigue. These insights are valuable for aviation companies seeking to enhance fatigue risk management systems, particularly through the implementation of real-time monitoring and workload adjustments. Future research should explore integrating quantitative data from actual operations to further validate these findings and examine emerging decision-making models for fatigue management.