Air traffic controllers can now request to take leave if they are too fatigued to work air traffic, under a new agreement between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA).
“Air traffic controllers have the responsibility to report rested and ready to work so they can safely perform their operational duties,” FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt said in a news release. “But we also need to make sure we have the right policies in place to reduce the possibility of fatigue in the workplace.”
The agreement also reinforces an existing FAA policy prohibiting air traffic controllers from sleeping while they are performing assigned duties.
“We supported the FAA’s action to enhance aviation safety by eliminating single staffing on the midnight shift and we fully support these recommendations that address fatigue,” NATCA President Paul Rinaldi said in a news release. “They are common sense solutions to a safety problem that NATCA and fatigue experts have consistently raised for many years.”