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Meanwhile in the other hemisphere??

Via Aviation Week:

Controller Fatigue Report Findings Prompt Immediate Change

Sean Broderick April 19, 2024



A new FAA policy mandates longer minimum off-duty periods between air traffic controller shifts as soon as possible, addressing one of the near-term opportunities flagged in a new report on controller fatigue, Administrator Mike Whitaker announced April 19.

The change, unveiled via an agency memo to top safety and Air Traffic Organization (ATO) officials, modifies FAA Order 7210.3DD to require “at least” 10 hours between shifts, and 12 hours preceding a “midshift,” or work period “where the majority of hours fall between 10:30 p.m. and 6:30 a.m.,” Whitaker wrote. Current standards allow as few as eight hours between shifts, depending on factors such as the type of work being performed—a variable the new policy eliminates.

The change must be put in place within 90 days, which gives facilities time to work it into controller schedules that are set at least a month in advance.

The memo also orders ATO to track “schedule exceedances ... and implement mechanisms to monitor and eliminate” them.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), which represents air traffic controllers, said it learned about the changes shortly before the memo’s issuance. NATCA said that while it is “encouraged” that the FAA recognizes the “seriousness” of controller fatigue, it is “disappointed that the FAA did not collaborate with NATCA in advance of its decision and announcement.”

Whitaker’s memo was issued as the FAA released an expert-panel report on controller fatigue that flagged between-shift rest as one of many areas the agency should examine more closely. The FAA commissioned the report in December 2023.

Led by former NASA fatigue countermeasures program leader and NTSB board member Mark Rosekind, the three-person panel was asked to examine controller schedules, work patterns, and related information and develop near-term strategies to mitigate fatigue.

The report lists 58 “opportunities” for improvement and a “strong” recommendation to have a formal working group study next steps.
The panel flagged four of the 58 opportunities for “immediate action,” including the off-duty time expansion.

Another near-term focus should be working with NATCA to eliminate the compressed 2-2-1 “rattler” schedule that puts five shifts into less than four full days, ending with a midnight shift that starts the same day as the previous shift ends.

The FAA does not track controller scheduling trends. The panel’s work included analyzing work and off-day schedules for January 2024 based on FAA-provided data. It found that 69% of overnight shifts, or 487 shifts in an average 24-hour period, were part of a rattler schedule.

The other two recommended near-term actions are to develop a long-needed controller staffing model that matches demand and to analyze how the panel’s recommendations will affect staffing levels and scheduling.

NATCA in its statement noted the off-duty rest mandate’s effect on staffing has not been modeled “to determine what unintended consequences they may have to the already strained air traffic control staffing coverage.”

Rosekind and Whitaker both emphasized that the study did not look at staffing, adding that the FAA has other efforts in place to accelerate controller hiring.

“We met the 1,500 [new hires] goal last year,” Whitaker said during a media briefing. “We’re going to exceed the 1,800 goal this year, and we’re going to continue to try to exceed those expectations going forward.”

The report has little to say on mandatory overtime controllers must work due to a lack of qualified controllers in many key facilities. “I think the overtime issue is one that we’ll correct by continuing to increase our hiring and getting more certified controllers,” Whitaker said.

“The FAA knows about staffing issues that need to be addressed,” Rosekind added. “Fatigue issues—even if you had all the people you need, humans working at night are still biologically challenged by that.”

Along with Rosekind, the other two panel members were Erin Flynn-Evans, head of the NASA Ames Research Center Fatigue Countermeasures Laboratory, and Charles Czeisler, chief and senior physician, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

MTF...P2