In Chapter 15 (Short-Term Scheduling), we discuss what Three Mile Island and Chernobyl’s nuclear power plants had in common: drowsy “graveyard shift” workers trying to stay awake amid constantly changing work schedules. The same, of course, is true for pilots who often fall asleep in the cockpit on long hauls (like Atlanta-to-Mumbai’s 18-hour flight), just as it is for truck drivers, assembly line workers, and virtually anyone who is a sleep-deprived shift worker. Scheduling is a major problem in all firms with 24/7 shifts.
So when The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal (April 14,2011) both reported that the lone air traffic controller at Reno Tahoe 
Airport fell asleep on the job early yesterday (and didn’t respond to pilot calls for 16 min.), it’s hard to be shocked. (Of course, we hope the situation is rectified before the POMS Meeting in Reno in a few weeks).
It was the 5th time in the past 3 weeks in which controllers were found to be sleeping. The most memorable one was at Washington’s Reagan National Airport on March 23rd, at midnight, forcing pilots of 2 passenger jets to land on their own. The recent incidents are just “the tip of the iceberg”, says a Boeing safety exec.
“We absolutely cannot and will not tolerate sleeping on the job”, says the FAA administrator. The solution: a 2nd employee will be added to the late shift at every airport that operates overnight. But inconsistent work schedules contribute to fatigue, and the FAA is for the 1st time, trying to fashion a program to allow controllers to take naps.
Discussion questions:
1. Have any of your students worked late shifts and what is their opinion of the problem/solution?
2. How do pilots and airlines handle the fatigue factor?