WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration has suspended another air traffic controller allegedly caught sleeping on the job and is taking immediate steps to end the scheduling system responsible for putting sleepy controllers behind the microphone.
The FAA said a Miami-based controller who directs planes after they reach cruising altitude fell asleep on the job early Saturday.
FAA administrator Randy Babbitt said that as a result of the seventh instance this year in which he has suspended a controller for allegedly sleeping on the job, he would end a scheduling system that often puts controllers back on the job after eight hours off.
“We are taking important steps today that will make a real difference in fighting air traffic controller fatigue,” Babbitt said. “But we know we will need to do more. This is just the beginning.”
The sleeping controllers have been working the overnight shift, and until their dozing was discovered, at least 28 control facilities had just one controller working that shift. Babbitt and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last week ordered an end to single- person staffing.
Reconfiguring shifts
Although scheduling is fluid and flexible to meet the system’s demands, one of the most popular schedules is known as the 2-2-1. Under it, a controller begins the workweek with two evening shifts, does a quick turnaround to a pair of day shifts and then does another quick turn before an overnight shift.
Those quick turnarounds — eight hours — have been blamed for controller fatigue, particularly when the final quick turnaround comes at the end of the workweek and just before an overnight shift that usually is the slowest of the week.
The 2-2-1 is favored by many controllers because it compacts their workweek and creates a three-day weekend.
Babbitt, who works closely with Paul Rinaldi, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said he plans to put an end to quick turnarounds to ensure controllers arrive at work rested.
But he will need to work out the scheduling changes with Rinaldi’s union. The FAA said those discussions already were underway. The decision affects 15,475 controllers.
Fighting fatigue
On Monday, Babbitt and Rinaldi will begin visiting air traffic control facilities to hear what controllers have to say and to remind them that sleeping on the job won’t be tolerated. Their first stop is Atlanta, the world’s busiest airport.
“We are working closely with the FAA to continue the significant efforts underway to address fatigue,” Rinaldi told The Denver Post. “We will have direct conversations with controllers and continue our call to action to raise awareness, reinforce our professional standards and reaffirm our commitment to the safety of the system.”
Denver International Airport is not involved in scheduling controllers’ hours, and a spokeswoman referred questions to the FAA.
The Miami controller who was suspended after allegedly falling asleep Saturday was working the midnight shift at the Miami Air Route Traffic Control Center. He was on station with 12 other controllers when a supervisor noticed he was asleep, the FAA said.
The FAA said that a review of air traffic tapes indicated the controller did not miss any calls from aircraft.
Denver Post reporter Karen Crummy and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
