Sydney Airport flights disrupted due to air traffic controller shortage

[SYDNEY] A shortage of air traffic controllers caused flight cancellations and major delays at Sydney Airport on Friday morning (Sep 11), the federal agency responsible for managing Australia’s air traffic said.

Airservices Australia said it imposed measures to manage air traffic flows “to safely manage aviation demand” because of the staffing shortage.

That led to around 14 cancellations of inbound flights, and delays of more than one hour.

The disruption is the latest to hit the nation’s busiest airport as Airservices Australia grapples with staff shortages, and comes amid probes into several recent near-misses at the airport.

“Last night, at relatively short notice, we had some unplanned absenteeism, which we weren’t able to recover from,” Airservices Australia deputy chief executive Peter Curran told a Senate committee examining the aviation sector on Friday.

“We’re one down in the tower this morning and that led to some significant delays,” he said.

The air traffic measures were lifted at 8.15 am (2215 GMT on Thursday) after conditions improved. Some minor delays continued for the rest of the morning, with flights back on schedule in the afternoon.

Airservices was working with airlines to reduce delays and the impact on passenger travel as much as possible, a spokesperson said by email.

Of the 49 controllers employed in Sydney, 41 are needed to be operational. Eight have been unavailable due to long-term absences, leaving little room to absorb unexpected shortages, Curran said.

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“We’ve had some staffing challenges in the last number of weeks since July ... and we have some moments where that can become somewhat acute. Today’s an example of that,” he said.

The agency said it was taking steps to recruit more air traffic controllers and make it easier to call on additional staff when needed.

Last week, a Reuters report — citing internal records and a call recording — said several air traffic controllers on duty when two Qantas aircraft nearly collided at Sydney Airport in July had been flagged as facing a high risk of fatigue.

One shift manager reportedly described the staffing situation as “a bit insane.”

That incident was the first of six near-misses at Sydney Airport in the space of about a month, prompting further scrutiny of air traffic control staffing amid global shortages.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is investigating the close calls to determine whether they shared common safety issues or contributing factors. REUTERS