In agreement with the Air
Traffic Controllers’ Union, the Federal Aviation Administration announced
plans to increase the minimum rest time between shifts for air traffic
controllers after highly publicized close calls between planes that were
following orders from controllers.
According to an AP news report, the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers
Association, the union representing the workers, agreed to a number of applied changes
as schedules are negotiated for next year.
“The science is clear that controller fatigue is a public
safety issue, and it must be addressed,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said
in a statement. He promised more measures to address tired controllers.
Rich Santa, president of the controllers’ union, said that the
group has been raising concerns about fatigue for years. He said the agreement
“will begin to provide relief to this understaffed
workforce.”
A report by experts to the FAA recommended 10 to 12 hours of
rest before all shifts as one way to reduce the risk that tired controllers
might make mistakes. The panel also said that additional time off might be
needed before midnight shifts, which don’t allow workers to follow normal sleep
patterns.
As a result, the agreement between the FAA and the union
will give controllers 10 hours off between shifts and 12 hours off before and
after a midnight shift. They also agreed to limit consecutive overtime
assignments.
Due to a shortage of air traffic controllers, the FAA has
limited the number of flights in New York and Florida. Whitaker said the FAA plans
to hire 1,800 controllers this year and is expanding its ability to hire and
train more controllers.
Air traffic controllers have been at the center of some
close calls. The National Transportation Safety Board said in January that a
controller made faulty assumptions that led him to clear a FedEx plane to land
in Austin, Texas, while a Southwest Airlines jet was taking off from the same runway.
Fatigue, however, was not cited as a factor.
In other cases, controllers have stepped in to stop runway
conflicts that could have been disastrous, including one where an American
Airlines jet mistakenly crossed an active runway at JFK Airport in New York.
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