Depending on where you get your news, you’ve probably wondered how much truth there is to stories about ATC. Six near misses made the news in 2023, caused by staffing shortages? Controllers falling asleep on position? Drugs? Are controllers actually leaving the job to seek better quality of life? Yes; yes; no; maybe some.
Near misses are not directly caused by staffing shortages. It’s already public knowledge that a few controllers have fallen asleep on position. No occupation is a “drug-free environment.” Of course, a controller would leave to find something better. The only thing that keeps some of us is the fact that we need a job and/or we don’t have anything else that we enjoy as much.
I’ve personally experienced a continuous loss of quality of life. Since six-day work weeks started, I can’t take a day off unless it was bid long ago, and several times I’ve called in sick from fatigue. After three hours of busy traffic, the mind can’t stay sharp or engaged. In some higher-workload environments, they try to maximize breaks during high workloads to let us reset, but…
R&R Not
Most “normal” professions have employees working a 40 to 50-hour week in five days. Even professional pilot jobs have rest requirements. Believe it or not, the FAA takes rest requirements seriously when it comes to controllers. I’ve personally never seen this rule broken. But, it’s not as simple as 8-5 five days a week.
All centers, most non-military TRACONs, Class B airport Towers, and some Class C and D towers never close. A typical weekly controller schedule might start with two evening shifts (swing shift), two-day shifts, and following the 2nd day shift I get eight hours before showing back up for the mid. If days off are Saturday/Sunday, the week starts Monday afternoon around 1500, Tuesday afternoon around 1300, Wednesday morning around 0700, Thursday morning 0600, then Thursday night at 2200. This schedule is intended to have maximum time off while still working the 40-hour week.
Without overtime, I’d be off Friday morning at 0600 and not have to show back up until the next Monday afternoon. Between shifts, we are required to have nine hours off after a swing shift, eight hours after a day shift, and 12 after a mid. So, off at 2300 (swing)? Can’t be back until 0800. Off at 1400 (day)? I can work a mid at 2200, same day. After a mid? Can’t show until 1800, so if you’re to work the next day, you can only do another mid shift.
Sounds great, and when it works it’s not bad—although it can be difficult to show up for the mid shift. But, that’s the schedule in perfect times. Due to chronic staffing shortages, many of us are on six-day work weeks, and some of those days working 10 hours. Controllers may not work over 10 hours per shift. At facilities like New York TRACON, many controllers are working six 10-hour shifts each week. The only way to get a day off is bidding prime time leave (done at the end of each year) or to call in sick. Between the work schedule and reasonable rest, there can be little time for family. It helps if you love the job as I do.
Yes, even with a six-day schedule we get somewhat over 24 hours off. Occasionally, that’d be no problem. However, for most of us, it’s tough to manage all the home/life tasks and family obligations needed in one day a week. With everything some controllers must do (including possibly second jobs), they show to work more tired than ever. This makes the mid shift extremely difficult for some, and in turn brings about controllers falling asleep on position. Yes, it has happened.
A good friend of mine works at a facility in the southwest region and had a co-worker fall asleep on position, during a mid, two times within a year. There are only a handful of these cases known publicly, however there are probably plenty more that occur. So, some controllers have taken stimulants or supplements to help them stay awake, and some controllers have been busted (via random drug testing). I’m not justifying it and it’s definitely illegal. But, I do understand the pressures.
Overworked
There is truth to what you hear on the news about ATC. Does the media blow it out of proportion sometimes? Perhaps…however some would say you need to have some insight into the field of aviation to fully understand the situation. Does all this lead to all the near misses? Not directly, but you can link the measures used to mitigate controller shortages to controller fatigue and thus controller errors. It’s a simple matter of human factors.
A tired controller will statistically make more mistakes than a well-rested one. Sure, we get short breaks on the job, but if the controller is fatigued starting a shift those brief rest periods won’t make the difference. Plus, the safe movement of multiple airplanes can and often does rest solely on one controller. It’s rare, but it does happen.
During the pandemic, my facility went down to a single controller working three main positions. At times it got so busy that operational safety dictated we go back to normal staffing. We will sometimes still do that today based on available staff, however when the other people scheduled to work with you are sick, overtime is called, but not answered as often as it was in the past.
You could be expected to work a position for over seven hours straight, and if it’s during a mid shift, remaining awake and alert was often a problem. I wish that ATC could take some lessons from professional flying. If a crew of two is required and the SIC is unable to show, that flight would seek a backup SIC. If none are found, that trip could be cancelled or significantly delayed. Of course, closing an ATC facility is not as easy as delaying an airplane trip. Let’s just say that when looking at risk, it’s a good thing two pilots are needed in bigger aircraft.
Now, where do the errors start? Well, it’s when we’re tired, right? In ATC, I find that later in a shift is when most mistakes are made. Some simple careless mistakes, but others not so much. It’s possible to get to a certain point of risking safety and just assume it’ll be fine. Yep, controllers can display the same hazardous attitudes as pilots can.
Resignation is the one that sticks out the most in my environment. I’ve even caught myself saying the same thing toward the end of an overtime shift. Some controllers literally get to a point where we don’t care enough. Fatigue brings on the hazardous attitude and it is a good percent of what controllers say cause near misses.
Short Staffed
Also, with the near misses, one can clearly tell that conditions are clearly affecting the overall safety of the NAS. While I know there is work on so many levels to help with this problem, I simply pray that the solution comes efficiently and that until it does, controllers realize their limits and know when to tap out if needed. The agency in the U.S. is around 3000 controllers short of where we need to be relative to the volume of traffic.
“How do you gather that number?” It’s pretty simple; for x amount of flights operated in the NAS in a day, there are y number of controllers to handle it. At an average of 87,000 flights per day with around 13,000 controllers, you get about 6.7 flights per controller. I know that number seems small, but bear with me.
With the intended number of controllers needed (at around 16-17,000), that 6.7 flights per controller goes down to 5.4. That’s a 19 percent decrease in workload. And that 19 percent decrease in workload would go a long way toward decreasing overall fatigue. Let’s not forget that this is an overall average. If I really wanted to, I could compile a nice equation to factor in traffic workload and complexity at all facilities. Obviously, a small facility with a single runway works significantly fewer aircraft per day than a Class B facility. At one of my past facilities, there were only four controllers at the facility (generally only one person per shift) and our average was 40 operations per shift. Let’s just say I got a lot of homework done when I was there.
To help fix the staffing problem, the FAA is considering opening another training facility and repurposing a few others. While this will help bring potential controllers in, there’s still a washout rate. Not everyone is cut out to be an air traffic controller. If becoming a controller was guaranteed, we’d hire 3000 and be done. I don’t remember the average and I could be wrong, but I think an average of about three-fourths of the new hires actually make it to through initial training then training at their facility. This won’t get fixed overnight. If controller growth can move along an efficient path, it’ll still be at least five or more years before we’re at proper staffing levels. It’s interesting that last year my facility paid out over 4000 hours of overtime. That’s enough for us to have at least two more controllers. We’re working on it … it’s just a slow process…
If you’re flying anywhere in the U.S. or you know a controller personally, just keep them in mind when traveling in the NAS. Some of the controllers working your airplane are working six days a week. The amount of concentration vs. the break some controllers get is extremely disproportionate. At the moment I’m just a Tower controller, however I have plenty of friends in those places and they do struggle.
Does History Repeat Itself?
Remember the PATCO strike in 1981? If one digs deep enough, you’ll find many of the same overworked and short-staffed issues we’re seeing today. While PATCO made excessive financial demands, they were frustrated with working conditions overall and their demands included a maximum 32-hour work week. But, the media zeroed in on those excessive financial demands and that became the sole visible issue. The public had no sympathy and obviously PATCO lost everything, while there was little attention paid to the working conditions.
What’s the difference between then and now? Back in 1981 there weren’t the well-publicized errors in ATC that we’ve seen recently. So, there was little or no public visibility into the controllers’ plight. Another big difference is that from the beginning PATCO sincerely believed they had the upper hand. “They can’t fire us all,” was a common sentiment. Even after President Reagan did fire the strikers, the common belief was that the system would fall apart in short order and the striking controllers would soon be back on the job. That never happened. In hindsight it seems the final nails in PATCO’s coffin were the excessive demands for both money and working conditions while neither addressing nor managing public perception that PATCO was simply greedy.
One last item of interest is that when PATCO called the strike, over 11,000 controllers participated and there were approximately 13,000 controllers then on the job—the same number of controllers presently working. Has air traffic increased since 1981?
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Last year, a FedEx 767 was flying an approach to Austin in LIFR conditions. At the same time, a Southwest (SWA) 737 was ready to depart. Well, we all know the story. Behind the scenes, the controller involved was on an early-morning overtime shift. Austin does not have ground-based radar, and with a visibility of near zero, it makes some things more complicated.
There was obviously some lack of judgement from a number of causes—fatigue among them. This was a three-way scenario when we look at the big picture: Tower ATC, SWA and FedEx. Tower cleared the SWA expecting them to “keep it rolling” as they are known to do, while SWA was taking things slower than normal due to the poor visibility. This was the first expectation bias.
Luckily the FedEx pilot was paying attention and wasn’t a fan of SWA being cleared in front of him anyway. They continued and once they found SWA, FedEx initiated the go-around avoiding the loss of two planes and over 100 lives. Were the SWA pilots fatigued as well? Or were they just cautiously taking it slow due to poor conditions? Were there no other controllers watching this situation? Luckily no lives were lost that day.
I won’t go into further detail, but all pilots and ATC have something to learn from this. I saw a similar event happen when I was a military controller (I was not in position). That controller was just in a hurry, but the airplanes weren’t. The Watch Supervisor caught it and corrected the situation. Since then, if I’m working a LIFR or zero-zero day, I play the non-radar game. “Runway xx, taxi via Bravo, Alpha. Report on Alpha and hold short of the ILS critical area.” I wait for the pilots to read it all back, then I sit there and wait. A minute later if they haven’t called I’ll ask, “Say position?” It’s a little annoying on frequency, however it keeps my safety margin high and me out of trouble. I’ll even go so far as to say, “Cleared for takeoff. Report rolling.” Multiple planes start getting involved, I’ll be pretty busy. Ever heard a traffic call on ground? Fly, and taxi safe! —EH
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Elim Hawkins has considered finding other occupations, but he really enjoys what he does.
