Air traffic controllers propose naps, rest breaks

The air traffic controllers union is pushing a proposal that, in some instances, would allow members literally to sleep on the job.

As part of a dozen recommendations designed to ward off fatigue, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association advocates allowing controllers working overnight shifts to take two-hour "recuperative breaks" that could include napping. The controllers already have shorter breaks but are not supposed to sleep.

The proposed new work rules, developed by a committee that included representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration and the union, are now winding through the bureaucratic process. Barring major controversy, union attorney Peter Gimbrere estimated at the union's annual safety conference, under way at the Rio, that decisions on what to adopt and how to do it could come by late summer.

For years, the union has advocated more favorable rest rules but run into strong resistance as a thinly veiled way to get the same pay for less work while creating more controller positions. This go-round, the union and the committee decided to start by constructing a scientific case, built primarily on measuring the body's circadian rhythms, before tackling the thornier budget and staffing side effects.

Gimbrere acknowledged that five years have passed since controller fatigue has factored into a fatal air crash. However, he added, "We are concerned about the manifestation of risk. The safety record doesn't mean that risk is not there."

The most recent spate of public attention to fatigue in commercial aviation came three years ago, when a Colgan Air turboprop crashed near Buffalo, N.Y. There, the focus fell not only on rest practices with commuter airlines, but also the pilots' inexperience in handling winter weather.

Some of the other proposals include extending from eight to nine hours the break between an overnight shift and an earlier one; education programs on signs of fatigue and sleep apnea; and "self-initiated evaluations" that would allow a controller to skip a shift due to being tired. The latter would be coupled with reducing or removing "economic disincentives," such as loss of pay, for doing so.

Gimbrere said that some of the issues, such as how these rules would affect staffing and the FAA's budget, were deliberately put off until a later phase of the current push.

"If we get into the weeds on some of the hard stuff," he added, the hoped-for timetable could get derailed.

The union, representing about 20,000 members, stepped into the shoes of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization after President Ronald Reagan fired its members during a 1981 strike. About 700 attended the meeting, which meshes with the union's message that it is primarily concerned with safety.

During his speech, however, union President Paul Rinaldi dismissed concerns raised by The Washington Post last year that the number of near misses had spiked in the area. Rinaldi considered the number, given last August as 45, was tiny compared with 70,000 flights a day nationwide.

In addition, the Obama administration last year removed penalties for controllers involved in reported near misses, a factor that FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said figured in the higher numbers.

Contact reporter Tim O'Reiley at
toreiley@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290.