Following a series of unresponsive air traffic controller incidents in the US, the FAA has announced that an additional air traffic controller will be rostered for the midnight shift at 27 control towers around the nation, which were previously staffed by only one controller on the midnight shift. The third such event in as many weeks involved a controller out of communication for 16 minutes whilst a medical flight was trying to land.

This move came as the FAA and National Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (NATCA) launched a nationwide Call to Action on air traffic control safety and professionalism. As well as an independent review of the FAA’s ATC training curriculum and visits to ATC facilities to promote professional standards, the Call to Action includes an FAA review of the ATC system, investigating issues of staffing and scheduling and incidents involving unresponsive air traffic controllers.

Ironically, just days after this announcement, a fourth unresponsive air traffic controller incident occurred. Despite a briefing prior to the start of the shift covering the importance of professionalism and of reporting to work fit for duty, an air traffic controller fell asleep whilst on duty during the midnight shift.

In response the FAA announced new air traffic controller scheduling rules designed to prohibit practices identified as those most likely to result in air traffic controller fatigue.

The changes include:

Increasing minimum time off between shifts from eight to nine hours;
Prohibiting controllers from swapping shifts if this will result in less than nine hours off between shifts;
Prohibiting controllers from swapping to an unscheduled midnight shift following a day off;
Allowing FAA managers to schedule their own shifts to allow greater coverage in the early morning and late night periods; and
The development of a fatigue education programme to teach controllers the risks of fatigue and how to avoid it.

In response to growing public and media concerns prompted by the recent spate of incidents, Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood said:

“We expect controllers to come to work rested and ready to work and take personal responsibility for safety in the control towers. We have zero tolerance for sleeping on the job”

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However, Secretary LaHood’s stance appears sharply at odds with the recommendations of sleep and fatigue experts. Professor Gregory Belenky, Director of the Sleep and Performance Research Centre at Washington State University commented:

“There should be sanctioned on-shift napping. That’s the way to handle night shift work”

Professor Belenky’s view is shared by a joint FAA/ Air Traffic Controllers’ union working group on controller fatigue, who recommend changes to FAA policies to allow controllers on midnight shifts up to two hours to sleep plus a half-hour to wake up, to avoid working whilst under the influence of sleep inertia. The head of the association’s fatigue mitigation effort, Peter Gimbrere, notes that controllers are permitted to nap during their breaks in several countries including France, Germany, Canada and Australia.

Despite the evidence supporting the value of naps as a fatigue countermeasure, and the use of napping by ATCs in other countries, current FAA regulations forbid sleeping at work, even during breaks, with controllers caught sleeping risking suspension or dismissal.

Clockwork comment

“We agree that napping is an excellent fatigue countermeasure. Sadly, naps taken at work are often derided as unprofessional by people who never have to cope with extreme levels of fatigue or operate at a time of day when alertness is at a minimum. Concerns regarding the risks of oversleeping, or operating whilst under the influence of sleep inertia could be readily allayed by implementing procedures similar to those used where controlled napping is permitted on the flight deck.”

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