Expert: Christopher McKenna - 4/19/2011

Question
Mr. McKenna, with all the stories lately about Air Traffic Controllers either napping or doing other activities during their work shift, it begs the question:  Why do air traffic controllers have to work such STRANGE shift combinations? I know that the radar and control towers...especially for big cities...have to be fully staffed 24/7, of course. But other around-the-clock jobs (police officers, fire fighters, EMT's) manage to schedule full shifts without their personnel having such big swings from day to day. Why can't air traffic controllers work...say, an evening shift (say, 2 - 10 p.m.) for a week...then swing over to the graveyard shift for a week...then swing over to morning shift for a week. That way you wouldn't have anybody getting off work, and only having 8 hours till he has to be back at work again. (Which means they'd really only have about 6 hours of sleep, even if traffic were light and they didn't spend much time with their family.)
Is there some union situation at work, where the guys with seniority get all the good shifts...and the younger guys have to take what's left?

Answer
David, the union is a big reason schedules are the way they are. In most facilities, management will tell the union the number of people per shift they need, for example, 13 on the evening shift, 12 on the day,and 3 on the midnight shift. The union then draws up a proposed schedule. Assuming management agrees to the proposed schedule, then the controllers get to select which schedule they'd like to work. You're right that senior people select first, and a lot of them like to have weekends off.
Part of it is maximizing time off. I liked to work the evening shift on Monday, the day shift on Tuesday, and then three midnight shifts. That way, I'd get off work on Friday at 6 am, and not have to be back to work until Monday at 3 pm.
When management set the schedule, before the union arrived, they would try to assign everyone the same number of "crappy" shifts, which is why we have a traditional bias towards the schedules we work today.
Thirty years ago, the FAA released the Jones Report, which said that schedules needed to change to prevent controller fatigue. Yet today, due to management and union inability to agree on necessary changes, we have the same situation.
And remember, that no matter what shifts one works,  biorythms dictate that at 3 am, everyone will be sleepy. Scientists just this week suggested that napping should be allowed to minimize fatigue. The FAA immediately came out and said no way. The FAA did change the rules to require nine hours between shifts, however.
I hope this answered your question. If not, please feel free to ask me any follow up you'd like!