Welcome to the new AJC air travel blog

110418 Atlanta: A pink April moon loomed over the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport control tower Monday, April, 18, 2011. New scheduling rules for air traffic controllers aimed at reducing fatigue on the job will be rolled out Monday, beginning in Atlanta. Randy Babbitt, head of the Federal Aviation Administration, will visit control tower staff at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, and FAA control facilities in Fayette and Henry counties, to kick off a nationwide tour of briefings that will unveil the new guidelines for overnight staffing. Extending hours between shifts and restricting night-time schedule swapping are among the changes. The move comes as a fifth air traffic controller in a month was reported asleep on duty: this time early Saturday morning, during a midnight shift at a regional radar facility in Miami that monitors high-altitude flights. The Miami controller didn't miss any flight calls because there were more controllers on duty, but has been suspended, FAA officials said. “We expect controllers to come to work rested and ready to work and take personal responsibility for safety in the control towers; we have zero tolerance for sleeping on the job,” Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said Sunday in a statement. “Safety is our top priority and we will continue to make whatever changes are necessary.” Already, FAA administrator Randy Babbitt and LaHood had ordered additional air traffic controllers assigned to overnight shifts at 27 airports that operated around the clock with only one controller working late. This came after a controller fell asleep early Wednesday morning at the Ren0-Tahoe International Airport and missed guiding in a medical flight. The new scheduling rules have already been put in place and will be fully in effect by the end of the week. John Spink jspink@ajc.com