A study into the stress and fatigue suffered by budget airline pilots found that they frequently lose concentration because of punishing schedules set by their companies.

The “no frills” airlines tend to maximise profits and minimise costs by squeezing more hours from their pilots. They require crews to work a complex mixture of early and late shifts that disrupts sleep patterns and results in exhaustion, according to the research by Leicester University.

The study, the first independent analysis of the issue, concluded: “The business model that underpins low-cost carrier operations, with its emphasis on securing the maximum return on physical and human capital, has the potential to compromise safety.”

Traditional airlines declined on routes to Europe in the past year while budget airlines enjoyed 23 per cent growth in passenger numbers. But the study, published in the International Journal of Risk Assessment, found that pilots admitted potentially devastating lapses in concentration.

Simon Bennett, author of the study and an airline safety consultant, flew in the cockpit with a dozen pilots.

A captain flying for a sixth consecutive day said: “I’ve hit my limit. A good night’s sleep would get me back into being safe.” Another, who had just completed his fifth flight of the day, said: “There were certain things I was letting slip.”

One pilot said that his airline had found loopholes in the regulations governing work hours, adding: “I am flying a plane sometimes absolutely exhausted.”

Dr Bennett found factors that added to the stress experienced by pilots included failure to provide meals during 12-hour days, making pilots dash to change aircraft during between landing and take-off, and refusing them time to complete flight safety records. He urged the airlines to listen to pilots because they were “safety barometers”.

An easyJet pilot told The Times that management sometimes turned a blind eye to fatigue complaints: “Managers know that pilots have sometimes fallen asleep at the controls. I have done it myself.”

An easyJet spokesman said that its pilots earned £50,000 to £100,000. “We don’t pretend to get it right all the time. If we treated people badly, they would go and work for someone else.”

A British Airline Pilots Association spokesman said: “The regulations are treated as a target to attain rather than a safety limit which should not be pushed.”

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