Three months in at a regional line maintenance shop and I already hate night shift

Started at a small hangar in Boise last September. First month was fine, but by week 6 I was falling asleep during 2 AM oil changes. The third month hit and my sleep schedule is completely wrecked, can't eat right, and I snapped at a lead over a missing torque wrench. Anyone else find night shift just ruins your body after the first few weeks?

2 comments

2 Comments

caseyfox8d ago

Kept a strict blackout curtain routine and black coffee at 2 AM sharp every night. That alone kept me from nodding off on the line and stopped the lead from finding me asleep in the breakroom. It sucks but forcing a consistent pattern helped me survive the first few months.

andrew_wood727d ago

Something nobody brings up is how night shift messes with your sense of smell and taste. After a few weeks on graves at the hangar, food started tasting weird to me and I couldn't stand the smell of jet fuel even though I was used to it. Turned out my body's circadian rhythm was throwing off my hormone cycles and making everything taste bland or metallic. Took me forever to realize that's why I was irritable and snapping at people too, because my whole chemistry was off.