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The FAA is taking steps to address controller fatigue and ensure that air traffic controllers are sufficiently rested, making immediate changes with longer-term, systemic changes to come down the road. The agency said it was taking action to maintain safety in the national airspace and the news has garnered some positive attention in the industry. At the same time, one aviation group is warning the FAA of the unintended consequences of the changes.
FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said that in his first few months in the role he toured air traffic control facilities around the country, listening to concerns about schedules that prevent controllers from properly resting. An independent panel of fatigue experts was commissioned in December 2023 to assess risks stemming from controller fatigue and provide feedback on how to mitigate these risks. The report highlighted many reforms to implement to combat controller fatigue, as well as other, longer-term changes to improve safety. Initially, the FAA will require 10 hours off between shifts and 12 hours off before a midnight shift, effective in 90 days. In keeping with the panel's recommendations, Whitaker said he was directing the Air Traffic Safety Oversight Service to ensure the agency has a stronger methodology to guarantee compliance with changes."I understand this lengthened rest period will be an adjustment for thousands of our air traffic controllers," Whitaker said. "We are committed to engaging the workforce and our partners at the National Air Traffic Controllers Association to prioritize health and well-being as operations adapt."RELATED STORIES:FAA accepting applications for Enhanced ATC training initiativeFAA grants over $100M to airports, ATC towers around countryFAA enhancing ATC training, deploying tower simulator systems after recommendations from safety review teamFAA convenes panel of experts to address air traffic controller fatigue
Growing the workforce will remain a priority. The FAA has worked to accelerate hiring over the last two years and said it has begun to reverse a decades-long shortage of air traffic controllers. The FAA met its goal in 2023 of hiring 1,500 controllers and is on track to hire 1,800 in 2024. The agency has expanded the training pipeline and brought more qualified individuals into the airspace. The application process is open for the Enhanced Air-Traffic Collegiate Initiative is open and will help to boost controller hiring and training.
"I appreciate the panel's time and expertise, and we are committed to a sustained effort to address controller fatigue and ensure our airspace is the safest in the world," Whitaker said. "These recommendations will significantly aid our efforts, providing a roadmap for our agency. What's more, as I always say, ‘safety is a team sport' so we're making the report public to enable other safety and workforce experts to review the findings and share additional insights. I look forward to working with our labor partners to implement these important changes.
The NTSB praised the change, revisiting a 2006 crash and 2011 incident involving controller fatigue, stating that the organization has been calling for action for over 18 years.
"The science around the dangers of fatigue is clear," NTSB Chair Jennifer 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."
On Aug. 27, 2006 Comair flight 5191 crashed during takeoff from the wrong runway in Lexington, Kentucky and killed 49 people. The subsequent investigation revealed that the controller who cleared the plane for takeoff had worked a shift from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. the day before the crash and returned nine hours later for the accident shift from 11:30 p.m. until the time of the crash at 6:07 a.m. the next morning. The controller told investigators that his only sleep in the past 24 hours before the crash was a two-hour nap the previous afternoon between the two shifts. Additionally, on March 23, 2011 a controller fell asleep on the job at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Investigators determined 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.
"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."
The NATCA responded, saying it was encouraged that the FAA was turning its attention to controller fatigue, but the union was disappointed that the FAA did not collaborate with the NATCA in advance of its decision and announcement. The group said the FAA shared its copy of the report with the NATCA only moments before it was briefed on the report and changes.
"FAA has not modeled these changes to determine what unintended consequences they may have to the already strained air traffic control staffing coverage," the NATCA said.
The group said it had been sounding an alarm for over a decade about the staffing shortage and the fatigue and stress placed on the controllers the NATCA represents. The group said it was concerned that the proposed gaps in schedules would lead to coverage holes in many air traffic facilities' schedules, requiring some controllers to work mandatory overtime to fill the holes, increasing fatigue and rendering the new policy pointless.Read the full report here
"Understaffing currently requires FAA to assign mandatory overtime to controllers, including regular 6-day workweeks, which leads to fatigue," the NATCA said. "In 2022, controllers at 40% of FAA facilities worked 6 days a week at least once per month. Several facilities required 6-day workweeks every week."
The NATCA said 2024 schedules for the 313 FAA ATC facilities were negotiated in late 2023 and the immediate application of this change would disrupt the lives of the controllers who rely on their year-long schedules for work-life responsibilities. The group said that the FAA currently employs 10 percent fewer fully certified air traffic controllers than it did a decade ago, and 25 percent fewer trainees than it did five years ago. Additionally, the group addressed the 2023 hiring goals, stating that the FAA only added 15 fully certified controllers and an additional 15 trainees. With a staffing plan that has been in place for over 15 years, the group claims it does not make the cut.
The panel's report states that due to the complexity of the safety-sensitive demands of ATC operations and the systems that have evolved over the years to meet these requirements, "it should be clear that there is no simple or single solution that will eliminate fatigue risks."
"In fact, there can be significant barriers, including inertia and comfort with what is known, that can slow or impede progress," the report said. "Noted throughout this report are fatigue risks that have existed in ATO for decades related to workforce, work requirements, and scheduling practices. Without action, these risks will continue to grow and become more severe over time with individual and system cumulative effects."
The report said that risk factors related to overtime, consecutive days or weeks worked and the mechanisms to address variable traffic/workload scenarios could be dramatically improved or eliminated with increased staffing levels while acknowledging that increased staffing would not eliminate the inherent biological fatigue risks that exist in an around-the-clock operational setting. Sleep loss and circadian disruption associated with night work and rotating shifts often lead to errors, incidents and accidents. The report also acknowledges that implementing these scheduling changes would be challenging and take time, considering all factors like operational demands and staffing.
"Implementing scheduling changes can be very difficult, resource intensive, and require considerable time," the report said. "The FAA and other stakeholders (e.g., NATCA) will have to consider operational demands, staffing, funding, and many other factors when pursuing the opportunities identified in this report."