Single (Wo)Manned ATC Shifts

[LoLevel]

Have just been reading minutes of an ATC fatigue study being conducted in New Zealand
http://www.caa.govt.nz/fulltext/CIRAG/fatigue_1.pdf

Curious as to how (on a worldwide scale) these are viewed by ATCO and pilots alike.

Are there any countries where this is not allowed? Those of you who do them -- what redundancies do you have in cases of emergencies, personal incapacitation, support etc?

I personally do them, a nine hour shift during the graveyard hours. The issues are varied and becoming topical, interested in all views.

I can't imagine all the 2 crew RPT operators charging into or across the airspace would know the controller on the ground is flying solo?


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"The views expressed here are a personal rant and rave and in no way reflect the views of my employer/s, not even by coincidence I should imagine "

[fweeeeep]

Lo Level,

I read through the minutes, and I must say that it is refreshing to see that there is ongoing discusion and investigation as to the hours of shifts and rests.

With the advent of the internet, I can see a time when there will be an agreed global advisory on this issue that will cover a wide range of ATC and PILOT functions based on individual (unit) and often unique environments.

Fweeeeep.

Not enough Garlic, Not enough Money, Not enough Sex and Not enough Sleep. (no specific order intended)

[Spoonbill]

http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif Our night shifts are 10 hours long and single (wo)manned.
Admittedly we dont have many scheduled movements during these hours, but the number of ad - hoc movements approved on a day to day basis, by the airport authority is increasing. Additionally, an additional maintenance contract by a base operator means extra movements, often at short notice, again, these are nearly always approved by the airport authority.
As we are the only ATC presence during the night, this means we have to keep the weather up to date to ensure continuity of TAFs, deal with telephone enquiries from crew, and do the flight planning.
As a result, it's sometimes impossible to get a proper break away from the tower environment and SCRATCOH is broken, on average, 3 times a week; albeit perhaps by only 30 - 45 minutes.
The airport authority seem to take the attitude that as SRG have allowed SCRATCOH busts to go unpunished throughout the UK, and on that basis, they consider that any action now by SRG would have little credibility.
Hate to be cynical, but I see little hope for change in the future. http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/eek.gif