US officials on Sunday announced new shift rules for air traffic controllers as part of a “zero tolerance” policy to stop alarming numbers of staff from falling asleep on the job.
Transportation officials monitoring some of the world’s busiest air traffic have been red-faced as case after case of workers snoozing in US airport towers came to light in recent weeks, in some incidents leaving pilots of passenger jets to land unassisted in Washington.
The head of US air traffic control resigned on Thursday, and the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) vowed a major shake-up to win back public trust in its safety.
“We expect controllers to come to work rested and ready to work and take personal responsibility for safety in the control towers,” US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said in a statement announcing the new rules.
“We have zero tolerance for sleeping on the job,” he said. “Safety is our top priority and we will continue to make whatever changes are necessary.”
The new regulations, which have already been implemented, require the country’s 15,000 air traffic controllers to have at least nine hours off between shifts — one more than the current eight-hour minimum, FAA said.
The rules also restrict shift-swapping to prevent short down-time between shifts and ban controllers from switching to unscheduled midnight shifts following a single day off.
“Research shows us that giving people the chance for even an additional one hour of rest during critical periods in a schedule can improve work performance and reduce the potential for fatigue,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in the statement.
FAA managers are also now required to schedule their own shifts in a way that would assure greater coverage in early morning or late night hours.
Babbitt and other officials will criss-cross the country in the coming week to meet controllers in several airports, and the FAA is launching a “fatigue education program” to alert workers about fatigue risk, the agency said.
Several recent cases have highlighted the alarming safety lapses at major US airports, and officials have scrambled to appear on top of the situation.
“I don’t know when I’ve ever been madder. I’m outraged about this,” LaHood told Fox News on Sunday.
“I want the flying public to know we’re doing everything we can, 24/7 to correct this problem,” LaHood said.
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