Local controller working ground combined reported that hour breaks are common at this facility and s...

Narrative:

I was working local and ground combined to accommodate one hour breaks (standard practice at this facility). A departing dash 8 reported FOD on the runway; pilot thought it was at the approach end. I immediately called the TRACON and informed them to consider runway xxr closed due to FOD. I started to taxi aircraft to runway yy for departure. ZZZ was in and out on runways xxl and yy (intersecting rwys). With multiple arrivals (military turboprops and air taxi's) to runways xxl and yy (lifeguard BE20 and business jets); I worked an intersecting runway operation with local and ground combined. The lifeguard flight missed his taxi instructions and sat on taxiway B waiting to receive his route. A C172 was confused on his new assignment and was delayed. The pilot did not have an opportunity to query me (frequency congestion) so he too was delayed. I am coordinating with safety vehicle about FOD removal; taxiing aircraft to a new runway and shooting gaps between arrivals and departures on intersecting runways. This is unsafe. This is horrible customer service.I would recommend keeping ground control open from 0700 to 2100. In order to do that; the culture of this facility would have to drastically change. One hour breaks and spot leave trump safety and customer service.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Local Controller working Ground combined reported that hour breaks are common at this facility and safety is being jeopardized. Controller was too busy at times and because of this aircraft were delayed. Controller recommended keeping ground control open during a specific time.

Narrative: I was working Local and Ground combined to accommodate one hour breaks (standard practice at this facility). A departing Dash 8 reported FOD on the runway; pilot thought it was at the approach end. I immediately called the TRACON and informed them to consider Runway XXR closed due to FOD. I started to taxi aircraft to Runway YY for departure. ZZZ was in and out on Runways XXL and YY (intersecting RWYs). With multiple arrivals (military turboprops and Air Taxi's) to Runways XXL and YY (Lifeguard BE20 and business jets); I worked an intersecting runway operation with Local and Ground combined. The Lifeguard flight missed his taxi instructions and sat on Taxiway B waiting to receive his route. A C172 was confused on his new assignment and was delayed. The pilot did not have an opportunity to query me (frequency congestion) so he too was delayed. I am coordinating with safety vehicle about FOD removal; taxiing aircraft to a new runway and shooting gaps between arrivals and departures on intersecting runways. This is unsafe. This is horrible customer service.I would recommend keeping Ground Control open from 0700 to 2100. In order to do that; the culture of this facility would have to drastically change. One hour breaks and spot leave trump safety and customer service.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1305430
Time
Date	201510
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Tower
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Super King Air 200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Taxi
Person 1
Function	Ground Local
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Experience	Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 1.5
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Local controller working ground combined reported that hour breaks are common at this facility and safety is being jeopardized. Controller was too busy at times and because of this aircraft were delayed. Controller recommended keeping ground control open during a specific time.