The Emotional Landscape of Aviation Pilots: Analysis of Online Professional Forums Using Natural Language Processing

Author(s)

Adrienne S. Renwick , PhD, LCPC, NCC, University of Nevada, RenoFollow
Leo Gonzalez Jr., PhD, St. John's UniversityFollow
Charles L. Silber , Ed.D.Follow
Alyson Mullen , PhD, MFT, University of Nevada, RenoFollow
Cass Dykeman , PhD, Oregon State UniversityFollow
Adam Stewart , BSFollow
Jennifer C. Ross , PhD, MFT, University of Nevada, RenoFollow
James Geisler , PhD, NCC, LPC, Sacred Heart UniversityFollow

Volume

34

Issue

3

Key words

pilot burnout, emotion analysis, online discourse, natural language processing, aviation psychology

Abstract

This study investigated burnout related to emotions in three categories of pilots: commercial passenger, commercial cargo, and military. While pilot burnout has been previously studied, challenges in self-reporting limit understanding. This study extends previous research by analyzing pilots' anonymous online forum posts to gain insight into burnout-related emotions. Natural Language Processing was conducted with the RoBERTa-base-go_emotions model, which analyzed 1,130,530 online forum posts from commercial passengers, commercial cargo, and military pilots for 27 emotion categories and one absence of emotion category (i.e., neutral). An exploratory composite score reflecting burnout-related emotional expression omnibus burnout score was calculated using seven burnout-related emotions associated with burnout. ANOVAs compared emotion levels across pilot groups. “Neutral” was the predominant category across all pilot groups, followed by curiosity and approval. While statistically significant differences were found between pilot groups for all emotions and “neutral”, effect sizes were consistently trivial in magnitude (Cohen's f < 0.1). The same trivial magnitude level effect size was encountered with the burnout score. As such, despite the ubiquitous presence of statistical significance across variables, the obtained effect sizes suggested practical equivalence amongst the three pilot groups. The prevalence of neutral language and minimal differences between pilot groups may reflect a professional culture discouraging open expression of negative emotions. These findings suggest further investigation into how aviation culture influences emotional expression, burnout presentation, and the reporting of burnout among pilots.

Scholarly Commons Citation

Renwick, A. S., Gonzalez, L., Silber, C. L., Mullen, A., Dykeman, C., Stewart, A., Ross, J. C., & Geisler, J. (2025). The Emotional Landscape of Aviation Pilots: Analysis of Online Professional Forums Using Natural Language Processing. Journal of Aviation/Aerospace Education & Research, 34(3). DOI: https://doi.org/10.58940/2329-258X.2132