FAA Calls for Sleep Deprivation Training for Controllers

None by KCPW

Local Union Leader Says Understaffing is the Problem

(KCPW News) Sleep deprivation may be to blame for a couple of close calls on airport runways in Chicago and the National Transportation Safety Board is recommending air traffic controllers get training on the importance of sleep management. But that may not be enough, says Brady Allred, a controller at Salt Lake International Airport.

"Staffing is one of the biggest issues. Systemwide in the nation there are less than 15,000 air traffic controllers. So we're a very small group watching a lot of traffic. It's not a good recipe," said Allred.

Allred is president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association of Salt Lake City. He says Utah's international airport control towers are staffed at about 70-percent capacity, and the Federal Aviation Administration is pushing for schedule and pay changes that could make fatigue even more of a problem.

"While it's perhaps of fiscal health to the FAA to get us on the hook for overtime week after week and to not give us as many breaks, it does have a cost and safety is paramount," said Allred. "We ought to be looking at that before the fiscal sense."

Allred says law requires controllers to have at least eight hours off between shifts. It's not uncommon for them to work a morning shift, be off for the afternoon and then back at the monitor for the graveyard. Sleep patterns and fatigue remain a concern. Meanwhile, contract negotiations between air traffic controllers and the FAA are currently at an impasse.

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