The public outrage over air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job is a well-founded reaction to a dangerous situation.
The outcry has led to the resignation of the government official who oversees controller operations, and rightfully so. And on Sunday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced controllers will have at least nine hours off between shifts.
But it cannot end there.
The Federal Aviation Administration must change its approach to staffing air traffic control towers and the way it structures shifts.
The FAA’s practice of frequently rotating controllers through midnight, morning and swing shifts is reckless and disruptive, as is allowing controllers to work multiple shifts in close proximity so they can get three days off in a row.
Air traffic controllers have tremendous responsibility for the lives of airplane passengers and crews. It’s not shift work at the local factory and shouldn’t be treated as such.
In a recent incident, a medical flight with a very ill patient aboard was forced to circle Reno-Tahoe International Airport and eventually land on its own after a tower controller fell asleep on the job.
Last month at Washington’s Reagan National Airport, two jets had to land without clearance after the controller apparently dozed off.
The incidents prompted the FAA to add a second controller at 27 sites where single controllers on overnight shifts had been the norm.
That’s a good start.
Since the spate of incidents, sleep experts have weighed in with their opinions on work conditions for controllers. Some have suggested controllers on overnight shifts be allowed the opportunity for structured nap breaks so they can return to work refreshed.
That’s an idea worth exploring, and we hope it isn’t dismissed simply because it may look bad to literally pay controllers to sleep on the job. It may prompt some late-night comic jokes, but the sleeping on the job that’s going on now is no laughing matter.
Several other countries, including France, Germany, Canada and Australia, permit controllers to nap during breaks in their shifts.
And the truth is, though these incidents have brought the FAA into the spotlight recently, controller fatigue and sleeping on the job have been problems for years.
Four years ago, the National Transportation Safety Board asked the FAA to work with controllers to revise schedules and create a fatigue awareness program.
The NTSB found that 61 percent of controllers worked schedules that were contrary to normal sleep patterns.
Part of the issue is that controllers’ shifts are constantly in flux, which doesn’t give them the chance to adapt.
Working the midnight shift one day and the standard day shift a couple days later can leave controllers, for various reasons, operating on little sleep.
These would seem to be relatively easy matters to address.
With the resignation of Hank Krakowski, who had been the chief operating officer of the FAA’s Air Traffic Operations, the agency has the opportunity to bring in someone to take the agency forward and enact necessary reforms.
We’re glad to see the FAA reacting to the crisis, but to do anything less than a top-to-bottom restructuring of controller scheduling practices would show a reckless disregard for the seriousness of the problem.
