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Air traffic controllers in the U.S. will have more time to rest in between shifts after a series of close calls between planes highlighted concerns about their ability to perform their duties.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the union representing air traffic controllers, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, agreed to a deal to increase time between shifts as part of their negotiations for next year, the Associated Press reports. Workers will now get 10 hours between shifts and at least 12 hours before and after midnight shifts that disturb normal sleep schedules.
“The science is clear that controller fatigue is a public safety issue, and it must be addressed,” FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said.
Union president Rich Santa said the changes should help provide some much-needed relief to his “understaffed” workforce.
The FAA has been short-staffed for years and the problem has become drastic enough for it to limit the amount of flights allowed in New York and Florida because it can’t properly staff air traffic control towers.
The news follows a few close calls that could have proved disastrous. In January, a controller allowed a FedEx plane to land on the same Texas runway where a Southwest Airlines plane was in the middle of takeoff.