ATC union to Airservices: Don’t blame our members for delays

“Of four people on Personal Leave in Sydney Tower yesterday, one was a trainee who cannot independently operate a position, and one was already on pre-planned annual leave but had fallen ill,” the union said.

“Whilst two people did take short notice leave, there were a further seven staff who worked when not rostered to do so, and two vacant shifts. Fundamentally, this means Airservices was short by nine staff members yesterday in Sydney Tower.”

According to Civil Air president Scott Nugent, ATCs are “governed by strict Civil Aviation Safety Regulations that require them to not work if ill, unfit for duty, or fatigued”.

“Two unplanned absences was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back, when Airservices was nine staff short to begin with due to inadequate staffing in Sydney Tower yesterday,” he said.

“Our members are offended and deeply disappointed that Airservices management continues to blame them in the media and amongst industry for poor management decisions about staffing.”

Airservices also copped a broadside from the airline industry over the delays, with Airlines for Australia and New Zealand (A4ANZ) CEO Stephen Beckett saying it must “act now to fix these persistent staffing issues and restore confidence in Australia’s aviation system”.

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“Persistent staffing shortages in Sydney Airport’s air traffic control tower are again causing delays at Australia’s busiest airport during the school holiday travel peak,” he said.

“These delays are the direct result of Airservices failure to adequately staff the control tower. This has been an ongoing issue for far too long. Airservices has had years to address it, yet passengers continue to pay the price.

“Flight delays happen for many reasons, including weather and unplanned engineering issues. But repeated disruption caused by air traffic control staffing shortages is entirely avoidable and unacceptable.

“Australia’s aviation network cannot continue to grind to a halt because Airservices is unable to adequately staff its own control towers.”

An Airservices spokesperson said the air navigation service provider is “continuing to recruit and train additional controllers to improve roster depth, and has put resilience measures in place that make it easier to call on additional staff when needed”.

“Our controllers are dedicated safety professionals and we thank them for their hard work in managing Australia’s air traffic network to ensure travellers get to their destinations safely during the school holidays,” the spokesperson said.

“We are also holding regular meetings with industry through the holiday period to share information and align resourcing with planned traffic volumes.”

According to Nugent, Civil Air recognises that Airservices has been attempting to train new staff, and the union has been “working collaboratively with Airservices to implement resilience strategies”.

“However, Civil Air will not allow Airservices to attribute their systemic staffing problems to our members, who are working above and beyond, completing hundreds of hours of overtime each year to help dig Airservices out of their staffing shortfall, and provide a safe and efficient service to the travelling public,” he said.

“False claims in the media about sick leave do nothing except further reduce morale. We have no idea why Airservices would choose to do this when they are relying on their workforce to patch their roster holes.

“The law requires Air Traffic Controllers do not work when sick. There is no pushing through, or working from home, or seeing how long you last in the office. For safety reasons, our members, by law, must not work if sick or fatigued.”

Airservices said earlier this year that it has been pushing “active recruitment, training and cross-skilling” to ensure greater resilience in the event of short-term absences like sick leave following the disruptions at Sydney in January.

The provider reported in February that it had hired 91 new air traffic controllers over the past year, above its target of 85.