The novel coronavirus disease- 2019 (COVID-19) is a major health crisis that has affected several nations and the life of millions to date. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of COVID-19 on student pilots. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study has been performed on the effect of COVID-19 pandemic on the mental status of ab-initio pilots. As a cross-sectional study, a self-administered 48-item survey was conducted among ab-initio pilots. A total of 108 ab-initio pilots completed the survey. The Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21) was used to assess the mental health of the ab-initio pilots. Independent-samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were performed to explore contributing factors associated with the presence of depression, stress and anxiety. Based on the findings, 24% of the ab-initio pilots had anxiety on varying levels. 44.2% of the participants were depressed. Varying levels of stress were detected in 45% of the ab-initio pilots. Vulnerability, working conditions, isolation, social and mass media and the lack of job opportunities were factors associated with stress, anxiety and depression among the ab-initio pilots. This study showed that depression, anxiety and stress were prevalent among the ab-initio pilots who were included in the study, and the participants were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The mental health of ab-initio pilots needs the urgent attention of aviation authorities and experts. This study contributes to the current literature on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and may make noteworthy contributions to aviation safety.

In this study, we set out to estimate the prevalence of presenteeism and to define its possible association with organizational factors, committing errors and stress among ab-initio pilots. Presenteeism is a major safety-related issue and has been extensively studied in a variety of occupation groups. As a cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data from ab-initio pilots. The participants assessed themselves on the Stanford Presenteeism Scale (SPS-6). Correlation analysis was performed to explore the association between organizational factors and presenteeism. Based on the findings, the prevalence of presenteeism was 29.1 percent among the ab-initio pilots (N=175). Furthermore, there was a strong association between training-related stress (p< 0.01) and presenteeism. The student pilots with presenteeism were found to make mistakes during flight. Better and effective supervision for ab-initio pilots was associated with lower levels of presenteeism, highlighting the need for a supportive and comfortable atmosphere in the flight deck in which ab-initio pilots may feel comfortable. The findings presented here may facilitate improvements in the field of aviation safety.