After flight attendants were guaranted to a minimum rest period of at least 10 consecutive hours when they’re scheduled to work for 14 hours or less, it's now time for the air traffic controllers and their rest hours.
The the U.S.A. aviation regulator Federal Aviation Administration is going to implement new policies to make sure air traffic controllers are getting enough rest, following an agency report released Friday.
Starting in July 2024, the air traffic controllers will be required to take 10 hours off between shifts and 12 hours off before midnight shifts to help reduce fatigue.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chair Jennifer Homendy has praised FAA’s move to require air traffic controllers to receive minimum rest period between shifts
“The science around the dangers of fatigue is clear,” Homendy said. “The safety of our skies depends on air traffic controllers who are well-trained and well-rested. This move by the FAA to give overworked and overscheduled air traffic controllers proper rest between shifts is the right thing to do.”
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said in a statement Friday , the same day the agency released a 114-page report about the risks of air traffic controller fatigue and how to prevent it. He said,
“In my first few months at the helm of the FAA, I toured air traffic control facilities around the country and heard concerns about schedules that do not always allow controllers to get enough rest,”
“With the safety of our controllers and national airspace always top of mind for FAA, I took this very seriously, and we’re taking action,” he added.
Like many employers in the United States, the FAA has struggled to recruit and train employees for a critical role in flight safety. Every day, 45,000 flights carry 2.9 million passengers in the U.S. airspace. Those flights are overseen by 13,000 air traffic controllers who work in 313 facilities.
Mike Whitaker's statement elaborated, how they worked on the roadmap to ease the existing fatigue with air traffic controllers,
In December 2023, we commissioned an independent panel of scientific fatigue experts to assess the risks introduced by controller fatigue in our system and to give us a roadmap to mitigate the risks.
The panel’s report brought into focus key reforms which we’re implementing immediately to ensure air traffic controllers are getting sufficient rest, while we also work to implement some longer term, systemic changes.
As an initial step, I will require 10 hours off between shifts, and 12 hours off before a midnight shift, effective in 90 days, consistent with the expert panel’s recommendations. I am also directing the Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service to ensure the agency has a robust methodology to ensure compliance with this direction.
NTSB investigation of Aug. 27, 2006, accident involving Comair flight 5191 that crashed during takeoff from the wrong runway in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49, revealved serious findings, where the controller stated that his only sleep in the 24 hours before the accident was a two-hour nap the previous afternoon between these two shifts.
Last month, Whitaker said hiring and onboarding more controllers was essential to meet increasing traffic volume and safely integrate new users in the national airspace. On Friday, he said the agency plans to hire 1,800 new controllers this year and 2,000 in 2025 to take the pressure off the current workforce.
The FAA report from the Scientific Expert Panel on Air Traffic Controller Safety, Work Hours and Health urged the agency to take quick action to eliminate traffic controllers’ current scheduling system and replace it with one “that incorporates sleep and circadian principles.”
Circadian rhythm is the 24-hour internal clock in human brains that regulates cycles of alertness and sleepiness by responding to light changes in the environment, according to the National Institutes of Health.
“Fatigue related to sleep loss and circadian disruption is created when human operators work schedules around-the-clock and is known to have significant adverse effects across safety, performance, health and mood,” the fatigue experts wrote in their report.
Obeid working the Class Bravo position at JFK in 2019.
The NTSB revealed to have investigated the March 23, 2011, incident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when an air traffic controller fell asleep on the job. Investigators found the probable cause to be
“the tower controller's loss of consciousness induced by lack of sleep, fatigue resulting from working successive midnight shifts, and air traffic control scheduling practices.”
Jennifer Homendy added further to the press release by NTSB,
“We have been calling for action on controller fatigue for more than 18 years,” Homendy said. “I am pleased to see today’s action by Administrator Whitaker, although much more work remains to be done.”
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