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How do your own roster limits compare?

ATS.OR.320 obliges you to specify eight things. It does not tell you what to specify. This puts your values next to the limits other instruments set and the averages EASA observed across European providers, so you can see where you sit before anyone asks you in a safety review.

Self-check · ATS.OR.320

Check your own rostering limits against ATS.OR.320

Fill in what your own rostering system specifies for each of the eight ATS.OR.320(a) elements. There is no EU number to fail here, the article leaves all eight to you, but you can see exactly where your unit sits next to what 36 other European ANSPs told EASA they run themselves.

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published

ATS.OR.320(a) requires your ANSP to define all eight figures below itself, the article sets no Europe-wide number for any of them. UK CAA (Safety and Airspace Regulation Group), CAA Policy on Air Traffic Controllers’ Rostering System(s), §2.3, Policy Statement, 2 September 2021 confirms it directly: “selection and regular revision of the structure of the rostering system, and of the values (or limitations) used therein, should be based on scientific principles, data gathered by the ATC service provider and best practices.” The only quantified benchmark available is what 36 of the 46 EASA Member State ATSPs told EASA they used themselves, in 2023.

The eight ATS.OR.320(a) elements against the average each surveyed ATSP reported for 2023. Not a ceiling, ATS.OR.320 sets none.
ElementArea Control (ACC) averageAerodrome (TWR) average
1Maximum consecutive working days with duty“maximum consecutive working days with duty”, ATS.OR.320(a)(1)5.9 days ± 1.45.8 days ± 1.7
2Maximum hours per duty period“maximum hours per duty period”, ATS.OR.320(a)(2)9.2 hours ± 3.010.5 hours ± 2.7
3Maximum time providing ATC service without breaks“maximum time providing air traffic control service without breaks”, ATS.OR.320(a)(3)90 minutes ± 38154 minutes ± 89
4Ratio of duty periods to breaks“the ratio of duty periods to breaks when providing air traffic control service”, ATS.OR.320(a)(4)Duty time as a share of total working time. 0.69 reads as roughly two hours on position for every hour of break.0.69 ratio ± 0.100.72 ratio ± 0.10
5Minimum rest periods“minimum rest periods”, ATS.OR.320(a)(5)11.6 hours ± 5.312.0 hours ± 5.1
6Maximum consecutive duty periods encroaching the night time“maximum consecutive duty periods encroaching the night time, if applicable, depending upon the operating hours of the air traffic control unit concerned”, ATS.OR.320(a)(6)Night time, for this element, runs midnight to 05:59 (AMC1 ATS.OR.320(a)(6);(7)).2.3 duty periods ± 1.02.9 duty periods ± 1.2
7Minimum rest period after a duty period encroaching the night time“minimum rest period after a duty period encroaching the night time”, ATS.OR.320(a)(7)Night time, for this element, runs midnight to 05:59 (AMC1 ATS.OR.320(a)(6);(7)).22.5 hours ± 19.517.8 hours ± 15.5
8Minimum number of rest periods within a roster cycle“minimum number of rest periods within a roster cycle”, ATS.OR.320(a)(8)3.7 rest periods ± 2.03.7 rest periods ± 4.5

EASA, Study on the Analysis, Prevention and Management of Air Traffic Controller Fatigue, Table 2-1, p.25, final report, May 2024, 36 of 46 EASA-Member-State ATSPs surveyed

Run it against your own unit

Elements 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 are ceilings, lower than the average is the safer side. Elements 5, 7 and 8 are floors, higher than the average is the safer side. Leave anything you don't have blank.

Facility type
days

hours

minutes

ratio

Duty time as a share of total working time. 0.69 reads as roughly two hours on position for every hour of break.

hours

duty periods

Night time, for this element, runs midnight to 05:59 (AMC1 ATS.OR.320(a)(6);(7)).

hours

Night time, for this element, runs midnight to 05:59 (AMC1 ATS.OR.320(a)(6);(7)).

rest periods

Enter at least one value above to compare it.

Sources

  • ATS.OR.320(a), Regulation (EU) 2017/373, Annex IV (Part-ATS), the eight elements and their exact wording, quoted above.
  • EASA, Study on the Analysis, Prevention and Management of Air Traffic Controller Fatigue, Table 2-1, p.25, final report, May 2024, 36 of 46 EASA-Member-State ATSPs surveyed · the observed averages and standard deviations.
  • AMC1 ATS.OR.320(a)(6);(7), “Night time should be considered as the time between midnight and 05.59.”
  • UK CAA (Safety and Airspace Regulation Group), CAA Policy on Air Traffic Controllers’ Rostering System(s), §2.3, Policy Statement, 2 September 2021 · confirms ATS.OR.320 leaves the numeric values to the ANSP, not the regulator.

What to do with the result

If you are inside every limit

Good, and worth being able to show. The useful next question is whether your rostering system can demonstrate it for any given month, rather than whether the policy says so.

If you are close to one

A limit you sit just inside on paper is usually a limit you breach occasionally in practice, when someone calls in sick. That gap between the policy and the month as actually worked is the thing worth measuring.

If a value surprises you

Check it against your collective agreement rather than against us. Where the agreement and the regulation differ, the agreement is usually stricter, and it is the one your controllers will hold you to.