Fatigue Risk Management Tools Now Included in Jeppesen Crew Management System Based on Joint Study with Boeing

Jeppesen Fatigue Risk Management solution works to prevent and mitigate fatigue risk in crew planning. Related CrewAlert application provides mobile FRM functionality.

Englewood, Colo. | 05 Jan 2011 | By Jeppesen

Jeppesen has integrated fatigue risk management (FRM) functionality with its Crew Management System solution suite, as part of its work to prevent and mitigate fatigue risk in crew planning and operation.

The FRM solution takes into consideration crew members’ predicted levels of fatigue when generating and maintaining crew schedules. Predictions of crew alertness and fatigue risk are based on the Boeing Alertness Model (BAM), developed jointly by Boeing and Jeppesen. The modular design of the solution also allows airline operators to make use of alternative alertness models if desired.

Jeppesen recently released a related Apple iPhone mobile application, called CrewAlert, which gives the user an insight into how sleep science applies to crew schedules. CrewAlert is intended for use by crew schedulers, crew members, government regulators and scientists to determine predicted levels of alertness. CrewAlert also allows for data, collected in actual operations, to be fed back into an airline’s Fatigue Risk Management System for purposes of correlation with other pilot data and further refinement of the FRM model.

“To help address a high-profile industry safety issue, Boeing and Jeppesen joined together to develop and successfully integrate FRM functionality into the Jeppesen Crew Management System,” said Tim Huegel, director, Jeppesen Portfolio Management, Aviation. “For years, rules implemented at company, regulatory and union levels limited duty times of crew with the intent of managing fatigue. Our fatigue management solutions – with the integration of industry-recognized alertness models into our crew management software, plus the CrewAlert mobile application – now allow airlines and their crew to enhance flight safety and maintain efficient operations.”

Data generated by an FRM assessment, including alertness and risk information, is processed by Jeppesen crew planning optimization software when generating crew pairings and rosters for operators. This data is also available to crew planners to control and monitor fatigue risk during manual roster maintenance and day-of-operation changes.

The FRM solutions were developed in advance of new aviation industry regulations requiring operators to implement fatigue risk management systems as part of crew management operations, replacing existing regulations on flight time limitations (FTL). To research the issue and to develop FRM solutions that would meet operator requirements, Jeppesen and Boeing conducted a joint study of European, United States and Chinese FTL models, entitled “Flight Time Limits and Fatigue Risk Management: A Comparison of Three Regulatory Approaches.” The study is available for viewing through the Jeppesen FRM solutions Web site, linked above.

FRM functionality integrated with Jeppesen crew management solutions include the Boeing Alertness Model, a bio-mathematical model of crew alertness and sleep prediction, or other models that comply with the Common Alertness Prediction Interface, the proposed interface standard for communicating with alertness models. Pre-flight FRM risk assessments, available through the Jeppesen crew management solution suite, provide an essential element of an operator’s Safety Management System (SMS).

For more information on the industry-leading Fatigue Risk Management and mobile CrewAlert solutions provided by Jeppesen, please visit our Fatigue Risk Management site.