FAA safety reports and aviation incident databases

FAA and Union Agree on New Rest Rules to Address Safety Concerns

Jul 24, 2024, 02:16 PM

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced on Wednesday that it has reached an agreement with an employee union to implement new rest rules for air-traffic controllers. The new regulations will increase the minimum rest time between shifts for these controllers, who are currently working 10-hour shifts, six days a week, and mandatory overtime. This decision comes after years of demands from air-traffic controllers for more rest, citing exhaustion as a significant safety concern. The move follows several highly publicized close calls between planes that were following orders from fatigued controllers. The additional rest is aimed at mitigating the dangerous conditions for U.S. flights.