The new rules will give controllers at least nine hours off between shifts, compared with eight now.
My dad was a Flight Service Specialist. His work week went like this:
1600 - 2400
1200 - 2000
0800 - 1600
0530 - 1330
2400 - 0800
ISTM there was a 1400 - 2200 in there somewhere, but I don’t remember when it was. I’m sure about the other shifts, and that shift would make a six-day work week. He might have worked six-on, three-off. He called his last two work days his ‘quick turn-around’.
Why such a screwy schedule? Wouldn’t it make more sense to have a couple of day shifts with start and stop times that fluctuate by a couple of hours to deal with expected volume and the same for night shift rather than screwing with people’s body clocks by moving shifts all over the place? This seems to be set up to completely mess with people.
Who cared if the workers got their body clocks screwed with? It was more convenient to schedule workers this way, so that’s the way they did it. My husband works for the FAA, and you would not BELIEVE some of the shit they pull. He’ll get off at 3 PM, and have to go back in at 10 PM on some weeks. It’s like whoever does the scheduling doesn’t realize (or doesn’t care) that most humans can’t just fall asleep within a couple of minutes of getting home. I don’t know when the schedulers expect my husband to eat, sleep, shower, and possibly even have a LIFE outside of his job.
When first heard about controllers sleeping on the job, I suspected the FAA was unaware or had avoided confronting the problem of shitty schedules that, if they were placed under scientific scrutiny, would be considered dangerous for all involved in flight safety.
Having worked countless shifts performing environmentals on spacecraft, the only shifts we found that were the lease disruptive were to move them eight hours forward every week. The reason being is that it is easier to stay up later than go to be early. Most people have 25 hour circadian rhythms; this has been shown by repeated studies done with people who have no outside references to time over a period of weeks and months(i. e., caves, indoor labs, etc.).
It bothers me that we have 40 years of sleep studies demonstrating shifting schedules arbitrarily is no different than given that person a beer while on the job.
Yep, I always thought (without the research) that the shifts should rotate forward instead of backward.
Then today Transportation Secretary LaHood basically said hell no, we won’t have controllers napping during shifts. This despite it being precisely what the science says is necessary. I think he also said something to justify this about meeting a doctor who had been up for two days straight, as if that were a good thing.
I think the FAA is coming down on the wrong side of this. They put people on stupid schedules as described up-thread, then refuse to do anything of substance about it. They are trying to treat a real world physiological issue as if it were merely public relations. People napping SOUNDS bad, so we can’t do that.
My friends who are paramedics would never be able to function if they couldn’t nap on the job. I would have no problem with controllers doing whatever was necessary to stay alert when needed. I’m a professional pilot, by the way.
I don’t understand why there’s all the rotation. There’s plenty of businesses out there that run 24 hours. You work 1st, 2nd, or 3rd shift, and that doesn’t change day to day.
Many years back, I worked at a job that had 3 (8-hour) shifts around the clock. 8am - 4pm, 4pm - midnight, midnight - 8am. Since most people prefer to work the 8am - 4pm shift, management had no way to choose who to accommodate without being perceived as favoritism or punitive. So everyone got to work all the shifts on a weekly rotating basis. You barely got into a routine by the end of the week, only to have it disrupted again for a new week. I cannot possibly imagine it changing on a daily basis. Most businesses these days rotate it on a 6-month basis.
Only the government… If the Book says it’s so, then it MUST be so! Even if real life proves otherwise.
I’ve worked in hotels most of my life with a 24/7/365 schedule. The night shift was always paid a bit more to encourage people to go there. The morning and afternoon shifts were decided by seniority.
Or they could hire and train more air traffic controllers I guess. I worked a great deal of overnights in my life and it’s OK if you can be on that shift and stay on it.
I was thinking this too. Why not just have a group of people dedicated to working the night shift, instead of having everyone go through these crazy rotations and screwing with their personal rhythms?
They don’t have dedicated night shift workers because that would make too much SENSE, and we can’t have that!
The people who make up the schedules don’t have to work the schedules.
I have always had a preference for third shift. I just do better if I am up overnight instead of during the day.
I think my ideal job would be third shift telephone customer service, out of my home - and I could live anywhere in the world I wanted. If the company that employed me would employ my husband as well, and pay us so that we could afford a nice 1 bedroom and the utilities, cable etc it would be heavenly.
I work second shift at a hospital lab and have since 1990. The hours suit me as I’ve never really been a morning person. Retention of personnel on second shift is usually pretty good but it’s pretty much a nightmare for third shift despite the higher pay. We’ve gone through two complete changes of third shift people over the last year or so. It’s a real hassle because the second shift is expected to cover the shortages and I’m feeling a bit old for doubles anymore. People on second and third shift need to be cross-trained in most or all the major areas of the lab and capable of working independently and handling problems on their own. Ones that are good at it can usually get a day shift job pretty easily elsewhere if they don’t like night shift hours and most seem dislike them.
Some dedicated night shift workers are air traffic controllers.
Easy, hire vampires =)
Why is that?
In my experience, things always seem to work smoother if the workers arrange their shifts among themselves. There’s usually some bickering, but in the end, everyone generally gets what they want. And as far as the Powers that Be are concerned, so long as the position is constantly manned, what do they care how the shifts work out?
I don’t know why it is. I only know that my husband has to work weird hours sometimes. Until he got this current job, he was working mids for two days, swings for two days, days for two days, then three days off. Notice that this system allows for only an 8 hour break when the shifts change.
I know that the department is understaffed, and I think that this schedule ensures that the place is covered with the fewest people possible…but it’s hell on the workers.
Obviously when 7 controllers fall asleep there’s a serious problem. People are overworked and exhausted. The FAA boss isn’t helping by getting mad and raising hell.
They need to address the problem. reduce work loads, add staff and do whatever is needed to make sure the guy in the tower is rested and alert. Suspending or firing the controllers just adds to the existing problem.
typical CYA bullshit. Politicians are so darn clueless.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/TRAVEL/04/18/air.traffic.controllers.asleep/index.html?hpt=T2
They don’t want controllers dedicated to only one particular shift because they want to keep everyone at the facility proficient. Otherwise, those dedicated to the night shifts would hardly have any experience working with live traffic and would likely not be able to handle the workload during the day shifts should the need arises.
I should make it clear that my husband is not a controller, though he DOES work for the FAA. He’s a system engineer, he keeps the hardware and software going, and he designs and writes new software.