In the wake of a rash of recent suspensions, and one high-profile resignation, the Federal Aviation Administration is getting rid of controller scheduling practices most likely to cause fatigue.
“We’re taking important steps…that will make a real difference in fighting controller fatigue,” contends FAA Administrator Randy Babbit.
The new scheduling changes were due to take effect no later than Tuesday April 19. They follow the latest instance of an air traffic controller falling asleep while on duty, this during a midnight shift at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center.
Tapes indicate the controller, unlike in earlier instances, did not miss any radio transmissions from pilots. There were a dozen other controllers working at Miami Center at the time of the incident according to FAA.
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, often at odds with FAA in the past, “stands in full support of [the] immediate steps…to address the recent incidents,” said NATCA President Paul Rinaldi in a prepared statement Saturday April 16.
Saying the Miami incident was “of great concern,” Rinaldi said the controllers’ association “believe[s] fatigue is a significant factor in these instances.”
Rinaldi says FAA’s guideposts for reworking controllers’ schedules are rooted in recommendations of a joint government/controllers’ association effort, an effort that entailed a half-year of study.
It’s instructive to note FAA could have limited its reaction to controllers falling asleep on the job. It could have simply suspended the offending employees, and accepted the resignation of air traffic chief Hank Krakowski last Thursday. Instead the agency appears to have decided to try to get to the root of the problem and re-work the way controllers are scheduled.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: madmiked)
