Alarmist or Not?
11-30-2006, 02:51 AM
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Alarmist or Not?
From the Raleigh News and Observer 11/30/06
RDU shift change called a risk
Bruce Siceloff, Staff Writer
An air traffic controllers' representative warned Wednesday that early morning travelers face new risks because of a planned change in the control tower work schedule at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
One of two Raleigh-Durham controllers who start work at 5:30 a.m. each day -- as the first morning flights are taking off -- will arrive a half-hour later under a directive issued recently by the Federal Aviation Administration. The schedule change, which takes effect Jan. 1, will mean added responsibilities for two controllers at the end of an overnight shift.
John I. Brown Jr., an FAA controller who serves as local representative of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association at RDU, said the controllers are fighting off fatigue after working through the night without a meal break. Their final hour of duty is usually the busiest, but they are less alert to potential hazards as planes land and take off, he said.
"There's more risk that the guy will not catch something," Brown said. "He's punchy. He's giddy. He's been up all night."
Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman, said controllers' fatigue is not an issue. The agency expects the overnight controllers to come to work rested and ready to work until their eight-hour shift ends at 6:30 a.m., she said, and RDU traffic is not heavy enough to require more staffing before 6 a.m.
"There is no compromise with safety whatsoever," Bergen said. "The agency would not do anything that is unsafe."
The overnight controllers work from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. They are joined by two controllers at 5:30 a.m. and two more at 6 a.m.
When the schedule change takes effect Jan. 1, only one RDU controller will start at 5:30 a.m., and three will report at 6 a.m. That will leave one of the two overnight workers with more duties from 5:30 to 6 a.m., when several flights leave Raleigh-Durham for cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
Bergen said a recent review found that the two midnight shift controllers usually quit working after they are relieved at 5:30 a.m.
"That's not productive. That's not the best use of our resources," Bergen said.
The controllers association has criticized the FAA over staffing issues in the past few years, contending that air safety was threatened because traffic controllers are retiring faster than the FAA is hiring and training replacements.
The FAA issued a nationwide ban on solo shifts after an overworked controller at Raleigh-Durham made a potentially dangerous mistake on a stormy night in August 2005.
No one was hurt then. But on Aug. 27, after the FAA violated its own ban and assigned a controller to work alone in Lexington, Ky., a Comair jet crash killed 49 people.
Staff writer Bruce Siceloff can be reached at 829-4527 or [email protected].
RDU shift change called a risk
Bruce Siceloff, Staff Writer
An air traffic controllers' representative warned Wednesday that early morning travelers face new risks because of a planned change in the control tower work schedule at Raleigh-Durham International Airport.
One of two Raleigh-Durham controllers who start work at 5:30 a.m. each day -- as the first morning flights are taking off -- will arrive a half-hour later under a directive issued recently by the Federal Aviation Administration. The schedule change, which takes effect Jan. 1, will mean added responsibilities for two controllers at the end of an overnight shift.
John I. Brown Jr., an FAA controller who serves as local representative of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association at RDU, said the controllers are fighting off fatigue after working through the night without a meal break. Their final hour of duty is usually the busiest, but they are less alert to potential hazards as planes land and take off, he said.
"There's more risk that the guy will not catch something," Brown said. "He's punchy. He's giddy. He's been up all night."
Kathleen Bergen, an FAA spokeswoman, said controllers' fatigue is not an issue. The agency expects the overnight controllers to come to work rested and ready to work until their eight-hour shift ends at 6:30 a.m., she said, and RDU traffic is not heavy enough to require more staffing before 6 a.m.
"There is no compromise with safety whatsoever," Bergen said. "The agency would not do anything that is unsafe."
The overnight controllers work from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. They are joined by two controllers at 5:30 a.m. and two more at 6 a.m.
When the schedule change takes effect Jan. 1, only one RDU controller will start at 5:30 a.m., and three will report at 6 a.m. That will leave one of the two overnight workers with more duties from 5:30 to 6 a.m., when several flights leave Raleigh-Durham for cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Charlotte and Philadelphia.
Bergen said a recent review found that the two midnight shift controllers usually quit working after they are relieved at 5:30 a.m.
"That's not productive. That's not the best use of our resources," Bergen said.
The controllers association has criticized the FAA over staffing issues in the past few years, contending that air safety was threatened because traffic controllers are retiring faster than the FAA is hiring and training replacements.
The FAA issued a nationwide ban on solo shifts after an overworked controller at Raleigh-Durham made a potentially dangerous mistake on a stormy night in August 2005.
No one was hurt then. But on Aug. 27, after the FAA violated its own ban and assigned a controller to work alone in Lexington, Ky., a Comair jet crash killed 49 people.
Staff writer Bruce Siceloff can be reached at 829-4527 or [email protected].
