tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34690855.post5986512886240035141..comments2024-03-24T10:57:10.838-04:00Comments on Get the Flick: Sleeping or Sleepy ControllersDon Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219887691182501386noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34690855.post-60809317533366343842011-04-17T22:13:58.592-04:002011-04-17T22:13:58.592-04:00virtual towers<a href="http://praxisfound.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/staffed-virtual-towers-svt/" rel="nofollow">virtual towers </a>Don Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10219887691182501386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34690855.post-11153569422973895982011-04-17T22:12:35.659-04:002011-04-17T22:12:35.659-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Don Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10219887691182501386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34690855.post-5314716168268345362011-04-17T22:11:42.213-04:002011-04-17T22:11:42.213-04:00Teach,
Sorry for the delay, I thought I had answe...Teach,<br /><br />Sorry for the delay, I thought I had answered already. There's a private company out there trying to sell your idea. They call it a virtual tower.<br /><br />http://praxisfound.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/staffed-virtual-towers-svt/<br /><br />I'm not so quick to believe in technology. Think of replicating a controller's eyes with your video feed. Go from looking at the ramp to checking the sky conditions to looking through binoculars to check on something. Walk through how an operator would do that with a remotely controlled camera -- times the 2-3-4-5 airports you envision them operating. <br /><br />Think redundancy. Think of the chances for task saturation vs. efficiency. "Profit" and "loss" translate poorly in air traffic control.<br /><br />I'm glad you're interested and I'm always happy to see that people are really thinking about the subject.<br />Thanks for writing.<br /><br />Don BrownDon Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10219887691182501386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34690855.post-89947467834857314232011-04-17T21:54:26.403-04:002011-04-17T21:54:26.403-04:00Corky,
A piece of the puzzle you might be missing...Corky,<br /><br />A piece of the puzzle you might be missing is job skill retention. I don't enough about other jobs so I'm not sure there is a comparison. Maybe playing in an orchestra. I don't know. Anyway, a controller's skills deteriorate rapidly. Let's call it "working speed". With little traffic on the mid shift, a controller would soon fall so far behind in "working speed" that he'd be unable to function on a day or evening shift without a day or two of training to get his speed back up.<br /><br />Ask any controller that has been on a week's vacation. It takes an hour or two to get back up to speed. I know a couple of controllers that wouldn't take a two week vacation (only a week at a time) because it bothered them so much -- trying to get back up to speed.<br /><br />Something else I feel you might be missing. The issue isn't sleepiness. It's functionality -- being able to function on the level that air traffic control demands. We can't stop people from being sleepy on a midnight shift. It doesn't matter where they are working or how many of them are working. The only way to keep them from becoming dysfunctional is to let them sleep/nap.<br /><br />"Wasteful" has strange connotations when a one-word mistake can get 500 people killed.<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenerife_airport_disaster#Communication_misunderstandings<br /><br />Don BrownDon Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10219887691182501386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34690855.post-38359805380049001972011-04-17T15:58:46.699-04:002011-04-17T15:58:46.699-04:00I find your take on sleepy controllers interesting...I find your take on sleepy controllers interesting but untenable. <br /><br />You point out two tower controllers will inevitably split the shift and sleep half of it. That solves no problems, there is almost the same probability of the on-shift controller falling asleep as the single controller. And assigning three controllers to do the work if one underworked, bored controller is wasteful to the extreme.<br /><br />I agree that rotating shifts are the worst thing. The internal clock simply can't catch up.<br /><br />But I have worked in a business (newspapers) where we operated on a three shift basis. But instead of rotating shifts during the week, about a quarter of the force worked midnight to 8AM constantly. When the "lobster shift" folks got enough seniority, they could move to a different shift. Similar work schedules are prevalent in the auto industry, though the three shift format has rarely worked well becuase it conficts with scheduled and unschedule maintenance.<br /><br />Both of these industries are highly unionized and have come to terms with it. <br /><br />The real problem is boredom. The answer is not assigning three people to do a one person job.<br /><br />teachforbigeasy has a good idea, but my guess is it wouldn't be agreeable with the union.Corky Boydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16363812378536729410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34690855.post-7321620287957232812011-04-14T20:25:25.263-04:002011-04-14T20:25:25.263-04:00I have a question that arises mostly from lack of ...I have a question that arises mostly from lack of knowledge, so forgive me if the answer is obvious. Why can't tower controllers be in the TRACON facility or even all of the above at a center? It seems if you consolidated multiple airports into one facility, then you could have one person per scope and not have to pay for more people but have the safety that comes from never having to leave one controller alone. If visuals are the issue, it seems like it would be easy enough to have panoramic video feeds transmitted to the TRACON facility.danielnashvillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03663546680079717454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34690855.post-69357465578221132162011-04-09T06:15:27.745-04:002011-04-09T06:15:27.745-04:00I agree with your comments Don. Underlying the wh...I agree with your comments Don. Underlying the whole problem is the weekly schedule of 2 afternoon shifts followed by a quick turn (8-10 hours off) prior to coming back for 2 morning shifts, followed by another quick turn to the midnight shift. (I have read the supervisor on duty at Reagan Airport actually was working a week of straight midnight shifts, but that is another issue.) <br /><br />This weekly compressed schedule has been documented to be the worst possible schedule on your body. Yet nothing has changed because, in my opinion, neither NATCA (i.e. the controllers) nor the FAA management truly desire to change. Each party has their reasons for maintaining status quo.<br /><br />I currently am working overseas and I work with controllers from all over Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. None of them worked schedules like the FAA works. At my present facility we work 2 day shifts followed by a 24 hour break, 2 afternoon shifts followed by a 24 hour break, and then 2 midnight shifts. After we get off from the 2nd mid we have the rest of that day plus 3 more days off. The whole crew works the midnight shift, but most of the controllers work only a partial shift, getting either the front half or back half off. Generally one or two controllers are assigned the whole midnight shift but they get a 2-3 hour break near the middle of the shift and are encouraged to take a nap in one of the provided sleeping rooms. <br /><br />I can honestly say that I feel much more rested and healthy working a schedule like this and I am convinced if the FAA adopted it my fellow controllers in the USA would love it. The only "negative" is your week-end is cut 8 hours short by reporting for a day shift your first day back instead of an afternoon shift.Tango Whiskeyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15068885560089549756noreply@blogger.com