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Another air controller fired for sleeping on job
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Aviation Administration says a third air traffic controller has been fired for napping on the job. An email from the agency says the controller assigned to Boeing Field i . . . (flightaware.com) Mais...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
A simple solution for this problem would be for controllers at low traffic airfields to punch in a simple code into an online keypad every five (?) minutes. Failure to enter the code ould set off an alarm, both at the tower and at regional FAA headquarters. Simple and inexpensive! Why didn't someone think of this before? Much cheaper than an extra employee to keep the on-duty guy awake.
I used to own a 7-Eleven that was open 24/7. I would never change shifts for my graveyard employees. If you ask someone who is acclimatized to a particular shift, it takes at least a week for them to feel comfortable working nights. It's no different that when you have jet lag after a flight to Europe. You can get used to night work but you have to have sufficient number of days to get to that stage. From what I've read about the frequency of shift changes that some employees face, it doesn't surprise me that they fall asleep at night when things are slow.
Michael, I agree with you. The majority of these guys work extremely hard under very stressful conditions. My hat goes off to those who are "on the job." As for those who fall asleep, hey, have a back-up plan. Team work is required everywhere in every industry. They should not be fired for a first time offense; have a plan in place to help these guys !! The TSA is something else.....those guys need to be "critiqued" more, versus the controllers !! The one that got me was yesterday when a TSA agent was pawning off porno material into people's luggage! What's with that? Ugh!
can they really afford to FIRE every one who has problems like this at the FAA??? With a full quarter of the ATC'S in america considered "in training" they really need to penalize them, but not make it harder on the ones that are left. if POWER NAPS on the job work for the atc's in europe, than why in the hell couldnt it work in america?? can anyone explain THAT to me??
Jane - It's a shame that we're seeing just as much criticism about ATC as we hear about TSA. I don't mind bashing TSA agents. It's the good hard-working controllers, that are lumped in with the "sleepy" ones, that my heart goes out to.
Maybe a treadmill would help.