Airline pilots’ perception of Just Culture and their willingness to submit safety reports within the context of flight data monitoring (FDM)

Abstract

Under-reporting of safety events remains a persistent challenge in commercial aviation. This study examines commercial airline pilots’ perceptions of Just Culture, their willingness to submit voluntary safety reports, perceived barriers to reporting, and the role of Flight Data Monitoring (FDM) in shaping reporting behaviour. A cross-sectional survey of 117 commercial airline pilots was conducted. Non-parametric methods, bootstrapped mediation analysis, principal component analysis, and linear regression were employed. Just Culture perception showed the strongest association with reporting willingness (ρ = 0.549, p < 0.001), with that association operating directly rather than through barrier reduction. Reporting willingness was found to be highly scenario-dependent, ranging from 21% for normalised deviations to 97% for high-severity events, exposing a critical blind spot in voluntary reporting systems. No evidence of association was found between FDM awareness and Just Culture perception, suggesting that FDM-related reporting attitudes may operate through mechanisms distinct from Just Culture perception: pilots most reliant on FDM as a reporting trigger exhibited the lowest intrinsic willingness to report. Demographic characteristics played no significant role, consistent with the view that reporting attitudes are shaped by organisational culture rather than individual attributes. End-of-duty fatigue was the most endorsed barrier. The paper concludes that authentic Just Culture, complemented by FDM as a learning tool, may represent the most effective strategy for improving voluntary safety reporting.