ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Organizational Psychology
This article is part of the Research TopicNavigating Emotions at Work: Behavioral Consequences of Positivity and NegativityView all 9 articles
Pilots’ and Cabin Crews’ Psychosocial Work Environment in Relation to Mental Health and Fitness-to-fly Safety Behaviors: Latent Profile Analyses
Provisionally accepted
- Karolinska Institutet (KI), Solna, Sweden
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Background: Increased competition in European aviation has led to cost-cutting measures and restructuring, resulting in more demanding psychosocial work environments for aircrew (pilots and cabin crew). Understanding how different combinations of psychosocial work environment risks relate to mental health and safety behaviors could guide targeted interventions to enhance well-being and flight safety. Method: This cross-sectional study used self-reported data collected in Europe in 2022 and examined combinations of self-rated psychosocial factors, mental health (i.e. depression, anxiety, and fatigue), and fitness-to-fly safety behaviors (i.e. presenteeism and self-disclosure of unfitness) among pilots (N=4,960) and cabin crew (N=1,684). Latent profile analyses were used to identify psychosocial work environment profiles, followed by statistical comparisons of organizational covariates, mental health, and fitness-to-fly safety behaviors. Results: Among pilots and cabin crew, four profiles of the psychosocial work environment were identified: High-Flying, Roster Empowered, Collegially Supported, and Strained. Profiles reflecting less favorable psychosocial work environments reported poorer mental health and safety behaviors. The Strained profile displayed a combination of poor mental health and lower willingness to self-disclose unfitness to the employer, suggesting a mental health non-disclosure pattern that could reinforce health and safety risks. Offering a minimum guaranteed pay, increasing perceptions of roster influence, and strengthening collegial support emerged as potential organizational and psychosocial intervention areas warranting further attention. Conclusion: By focusing on health and safety in relation to the psychosocial work environment, we show that addressing psychosocial risks could be associated with dual benefits, enhancing occupational health, while simultaneously improving flight safety. Practical Application: The study offers practical insights into which organizational and psychosocial factors could be targeted to improve mental health and safety behaviors among aircrew in Europe.
Keywords: Aviation, Occupational Health, organizational and psychosocial work environment, safety behaviors, self-declaration of unfitness
Received: 06 Nov 2025; Accepted: 27 Jan 2026.
Copyright: © 2026 Folke, Sorjonen and Melin. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Filippa Folke
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