Give me (them) a break, sleeping on the job?

[Old Moparz]

I would never work a graveyard shift by choice. For about a month one summer, I worked 8PM to 4AM at Penn Station in NYC surveying tracks, platforms, beams, columns, etc., measuring for new overhead access bridges. We could only work on the tracks at night & had no choice. The heat & diesel fumes made you want to fall asleep standing up. (Yes, there was a rule or law that the trains couldn't idle, but they did anyway.) It sucked driving from upstate NY to NYC to begin with, but the ride home was absolutely brutal. I slept in the car many times in parking lots on the way home so I didn't fall asleep driving. As tired as I was, falling asleep at 6AM was almost impossible. I felt like a zombie for a long time.

The FAA is simply reacting to a problem that surfaced & no different than any other agency or department when they get called out on something. The air traffic controllers went on strike a long time ago because of working conditions & got canned instead. Maybe they should have simply sacrificed a few of themselves back then by falling asleep, then getting caught to get the point across.   

[flyinlow]

The two circadian lows , 2-5 pm and the killer 2-5 am , have been documented for years. Unfortunately Company's and Governments sometimes give the issue only lip service when it comes to the money issue. This leaves it to the individual to deal with as best they can. Not always effectively.

From taking to Air Traffic Controllers , they will work Ground Control for a couple hours, take a coffee break, then maybe work Approach Control for awhile ,etc. to help combat fatigue.  With only one Controller on duty it would be tough. ( hope the bathrooms near by)

I'm no pilot but it would seem to me that there's a big difference between flying into an airport where you know there is no tower/controller and one where a controller is expected to be.

Yes , landing without hearing "Cleared to land" form the Tower Controller would be disconcerting.

[John_Kunkel]

I'm no pilot but it would seem to me that there's a big difference between flying into an airport where you know there is no tower/controller and one where a controller is expected to be.

There obviously is, but the basic rules all pilots follow are "see and avoid" and that includes being under the control of a tower. Making an uncleared landing at a controlled airport where there are only a few flights in the wee hours isn't as dangerous as the media has made it out to be.

[Steve P.]

I believe there are many good points made here, but in a nut shell I WANT TO KNOW that the best possible job is being done when I am flying. 

I have worked in several jobs where lives depended on everyone there. Including a nuke plant. SHIFT WORK, in my opinion, is NOT A GOOD IDEA. We stuck to 12 and 12 by 72 hours. That was tough enough. Changing shifts all the time is brutal. Especially when life has some fun plans for you. Like KIDS and crazy weather.... Shift work is stressful..

[b5blue]

  Speaking from actual experience as an ex USAF tower controller, 18 months of swing-mid-morning-night rotating shifts was nuts. In the 18 months I figured out several things before requesting cross training. A: Your life becomes a blur of shifts, days mean nothing, weeks are meaningless as are relationships with other "normal" people that work the same part of a 24 hour day and have 2 days off. B: All ATC personnel no matter where (Radar Center or Tower) must deal with not only this but the burden of memorizing a set of regulations the size (literally) of a full set of Encyclopedia. (Along with constant "notes to airmen" with specific modifications and addendum's to your local area and its changing situations) C: Power struggles and bickering among a bunch of cranky sleep deprived, isolated, sometimes egotistical workers. D: A lack of understanding by the general public as to what the heck you do and why you do it.
  Over all I have a very deep respect for all ATC employees and an even deeper respect for all military ones as they are grossly under payed. The way they are asked to do their job and how well they do it despite that is largely beyond reproach having done it myself.
  I heard of sweet spots like towers that closed at 9 or 10 PM and reopened at 7 AM, rumors of "Fixed shift facility's" and rotations of shifts where you worked the same shift for a month then changed but these were exceptions. (or just flat out rumors) These highly trained professionals love aviation to a degree most will never understand and serve you well day in and day out. There is much greater danger in airliner maintenance cost cutting and service schedules getting "fudged" from deregulation and self inspection then in control tower and center operations in my book.    Check wheels down...your cleared to land!       

[Mr.Woolery]

I would totally love to be a full time, graveyard shift only ATC employee.  Constantly changing shifts are killer, but I would thrive working graveyard shifts exclusively for the rest of my working career life.

[b5blue]

If there had been even "hope" of any "steady shift" I'd have stayed.....

[Budnicks]

Fire thier butt that's what happens in the real world.     Budnicks