Name: Airline pilots hide mental health struggles to keep flying
Uploaded: 2025-12-03T14:25:57.572Z
Duration: 5 min 48 s
Description: Reuters spoke to airline pilots at U.S. and foreign carriers who said that they were reluctant to disclose mental health issues - even minor or treatable ones - fearing immediate grounding and a lengthy, costly medical review that could end their careers.

Reuters spoke to airline pilots at U.S. and foreign carriers who said that they were reluctant to disclose mental health issues - even minor or treatable ones - fearing immediate grounding and a lengthy, costly medical review that could end their careers.

A Reuters investigation highlights how airline pilots often conceal mental health struggles due to fears that seeking treatment could jeopardize their careers. Interviews with pilots and families reveal that stigma, strict regulations, and lengthy, costly medical reviews deter many from disclosing even minor mental health issues.

Recent studies show that over half of US and Canadian pilots avoid healthcare for fear of losing flying privileges. While the FAA and airlines have expanded support programs and broadened approved treatments, industry experts and pilot unions continue to push for reforms to make mental health care more accessible and reduce the risk of untreated conditions affecting flight safety.

Airline pilots hide mental health struggles to keep flying

I failed. I held on as long as I could. I love you all. I tried to give you a smooth ride. It's closing time. This is the one he left on the mountain. A note from Delta Airlines pilot Brian Whitkey, who died by suicide in the Utah mountains in June of 2022, aged 41. I feel sadness that I couldn't put my arms around him and make it all better. It's what a mom wants to do. Brian Whitkey's mother, Annie Vargas, gave Reuters a personal glimpse of her son's mental health struggles and why he resisted her plea to seek help. Those are him with his kids. He was a pilot and father of three who, Vargas said, was scared that getting treatment for depression would cost him his passion and profession. She said the drop in air travel during the pandemic kept Whitkey at home more and affected his mental health. Everything was about his family. He was afraid that if he lost his job, he couldn't take care of his family anymore. Vargas said she was speaking out in the hope that the family's tragedy will challenge the mental health culture in the aviation industry. Delta Airlines, which called Whitkey's death, quote, tragic and heartbreaking, said it offers confidential support programs and counseling for staff. And it said it's working to deliver more help. But it also said the pilot community had a stigma against seeking mental health services. As Reuters discovered, there's a morbid saying among pilots. If you aren't lying, you aren't flying. We spoke to more than 24 commercial pilots for this story who said there were a number of reasons they were reluctant to disclose mental health issues, including social stigma, regulations and airline policies. Even minor or treatable ones, they feared, could lead to an order to stop flying and a drawn out, expensive medical review that could end their careers. I don't know whether you heard rumors. I don't know why, but he was convinced that reporting that he was struggling was going to be out of the cockpit for an indefinite period of time. Having spotted a golden dragonfly after his memorial, Whitkey's mother now wears the insects to keep his memory alive and to invite conversation about her son. In a 2023 Society of Occupational Medicine study of more than 5,000 US and Canadian pilots, more than half said they avoided health care over concerns about losing flying status. I hear from pilots all the time who struggle with the decision to get treatment. Los Angeles-based pilot Troy Merritt voluntarily grounded himself a couple years ago after realizing his depression and anxiety were too severe to fly safely. I just couldn't go to work. I couldn't get myself out of the house. It was one of the most intense experiences emotionally for me. Merritt spoke on the condition that Reuters would not identify his employer. He says it took 18 months with stable medication, extensive psychological and cognitive testing, and thousands of dollars out of his pocket before he was cleared to fly again. I'm a better pilot today than I was before I got treatment, as far as that's concerned. Personally, I'm also a much happier person, and I enjoy life a lot more. In a statement, the FAA said, quote, We encourage pilots to seek help early if they have a mental health condition, since most, if treated, do not disqualify a pilot from flying. Pilots must stay healthy, both in body and mind, to keep their FAA medical certification which they need to fly. In some cases, medical exams are done every six months. Severe conditions require an extensive FAA review that can take up to a year or more. And while the FAA says it is committed to prioritizing the mental health of pilots based on the best medical science available, Merritt says the review process is too long for patients who have responded well to treatment. It's my firm belief that the industry will be much safer if we make access to mental health care easier for pilots, because avoiding mental health care opens up the door to pilots who avoid taking care of their health, and that's when problems can arise in the cockpit and safety issues can come about. In 2015, a Germanwings co-pilot with a history of severe depression flew a jet into a French mountainside, killing all 150 people on board. In the decades since, regulators and airlines have introduced reform, but haven't produced a global system for addressing pilot mental health. But in the United States, the FAA has made progress. For one, it's broadened the list of approved medications for mental health conditions. Airlines and pilot unions have also expanded confidential peer support programs. And many industry groups are urging the FAA to adopt recommended steps by its advisory committee to protect pilots who disclose issues and speed up their return to work. In September, the U.S. House of Representatives voted for the FAA to implement those changes within two years.

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