New FAA ATC fatigue mandate

[cmac88]

New FAA rest rules to address 'fatigue' issues with air traffic controllers

The mandate comes amid heightened scrutiny of near-miss incidents. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association said it could backfire.

www.nbcnews.com

This will be interesting. Not sure how the 12 hours before a mid will work without doing some drastically different things... At least for where I'm at....

 

[cmac88]

Curious what anybody's ideas for how this will work are? What do dispatchers work? Mandatory 4-10's, starting with a mid, rotating days/eves/mids? Either way it'll be a cluster and no way they will start something in 90 days. The system will stop of they think they are actually going to implement it in 90 days....

 

[NovemberEcho]

They legally can’t implement it without BWS negotiations taking place at the local level. The 10 hours between shifts isn’t terrible, but 12 before a mid will be drastic. Currently we work a 0600-1400 on your “monday” and then 2300-0700. Can’t legally work a mid if you start the day before 0530, so physically can’t fit 12 hours between those shifts. You would have to start the week on a mid which • no.

What I do find funny though is that all over ATC forums and Reddit is people doing nothing but bitch about the rattler and how it needs to end and then this comes out and now everyone is bitching about that. I guess the saying is true, the only thing controllers hate more than the status quo is change.

 

[cmac88]

As unlike to say.... "Humans gonna human."

After a little time and some convos the best ideas to actually do something in 90 days I've heard are either getting them to give admin leave to the mid workers or do something like:

1700-0100
1300-2100
0700-1500
Mid Worker:
0530-1230(7 hr)
0030-0930(9hr)

That would actually work ok in our building but smaller or horribly staffed (like actually horrible not controllers always bitch horrible) might be tough.

 

[cmac88]

Longer term NATCA needs to get their stuff together and use it to push for 4 day weeks or some sort of "reserve day" quasi 4 day work week.... If it's really about "fatigue" mitigation. Otherwise nothing about these changes will actually help fatigue at all.

 

[GroundPilot]

Curious what anybody's ideas for how this will work are? What do dispatchers work? Mandatory 4-10's, starting with a mid, rotating days/eves/mids? Either way it'll be a cluster and no way they will start something in 90 days. The system will stop of they think they are actually going to implement it in 90 days....

For Jetblue we have 4 10's. For a relief line you can have say a morning 0500 start working M-Th then off F-Su all the time. For line holders they stagger shifts where you will have 3 days off one week then 4 days off the next week to stagger starting days. This is for all shifts (0400/0500, 1000, 1330/1430 and 2200 starts)

We did have one Dispatcher that picked up a lot of OT and was doing consecutive quick turns 0400-1400 then started again at 2200-0700 then again afternoon next day with an hour later start

 

[A1TAPE]

For Jetblue we have 4 10's. For a relief line you can have say a morning 0500 start working M-Th then off F-Su all the time. For line holders they stagger shifts where you will have 3 days off one week then 4 days off the next week to stagger starting days. This is for all shifts (0400/0500, 1000, 1330/1430 and 2200 starts)

We did have one Dispatcher that picked up a lot of OT and was doing consecutive quick turns 0400-1400 then started again at 2200-0700 then again afternoon next day with an hour later start

Whats the point in staggering start days?