Sydney Airport hit by delays as staff shortages bite again
A staff shortage at Sydney Airport has led to delays at the country’s busiest airport.
In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, Airservices Australia it was slowing down departures to avoid overcrowding due to a shortage of air traffic controllers.
Airservices Australia has slowed down departures at Sydney Airport to avoid overcrowding in the sky. Getty Images
“Airservices Australia is working to keep delays at Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport to a minimum this afternoon with Air Traffic Flow Management (ATFM) measures affecting departures in place to safely manage aviation demand,” an Airservices Australia spokesperson said.
“ATFM measures were implemented due to rostering requirements.
“Airservices acknowledges and thanks our dedicated controllers for their professionalism and work through this challenging period.”
The corporation said it is combatting the shortages by updating its Sydney scheduling system and working with airlines and unions to hire and train more standby controllers.
Airservices Australia recommends that people boarding flights check the Sydney Airport website to stay up to date with departure times.
The delays come as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigates three separate safety incidents at Australia’s busiest airport in as many weeks.
While acknowledging similarities between the three incidents, ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell stressed they would be treated as isolated cases.
He noted that in most instances, it was the “well-trained and well-qualified pilots” who identified the risks and halted the aircraft.
“It is a concern to us that it even got to that stage.”
The delays come as three safety incidents at Sydney Airport are under investigation. iStock
“In all three cases, a line of defence kicked in, as it should, to stop this situation from escalating,” he said.
It was learned last week that a training session was under way inside the Sydney Airport control tower on Sunday when two passenger jets came dangerously close, just hours after a separate near-miss.
Two Airservices Australia staff members have since been stood down over one of the incidents.
ATSB investigators have begun interviewing air traffic controllers and flight crews and are gathering recorded flight data as part of their investigation.
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