Effects of age and flight exposure on flight safety performance: Evidence from a large cross-sectional pilot sample

Generally, flight experience protects against the effect of the normal aging process on pilots’ incident involvement, but some studies have shown a negative effect of flight hours on flight safety performance. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between age, flight exposure, and flight safety performance in a large cross-sectional sample of commercial airline pilots (N = 1291). We examined the role that flight exposure plays in mediating age and flight safety performance, as well as the role that age plays in moderating flight exposure and flight safety performance in different age groups. Pilots’ age, total flight hours of B737-800, and exceedance data from 2016 to 2018 were collected. The results showed that exceedance rates increased rapidly among pilots aged 21–40, regardless of their flight exposure levels. In addition, flight exposure mediated the association between age and exceedance rates among pilots aged 21–35; age moderated the association between flight exposure and exceedance rates among pilots aged 26–35. Age directly affected exceedance rates among pilots aged 41–45 and 56–60. These findings provide insights into the pilots’ psychological and cognitive competencies in the professionalism lifecycle management perspective, which has previously been confused between age and flight exposure.