Sydney Airport ground delay times spike in August

“While Air Traffic Flow Management ground delays remained a small component of total network delay at 2.4 per cent in August, with Airservices contributing 0.6 per cent, Sydney experienced higher ATFM ground delays at 3.7 per cent, of which Airservices contributed 2.3 per cent,” the report read.

“As a consequence, Airservices attributable ground delays at Sydney this month were around four times higher than the monthly average in the previous financial year.

“While average airborne and ground delay minutes per flight remained stable across the network during this period, Sydney’s average ATFM ground delay minutes per flight were around 39 per cent higher during the month.”

Sydney Kingsford Smith’s air traffic control tower has seen highly-publicised issues with staffing in recent months, with reports its controllers on average take more sick leave than any other major Australian airport.

Airservices says it is “implementing a Sydney KSA Service Resilience Plan and providing transparency on progress through a Department-led Sydney KSA ATC Working Group, which includes representatives from unions, airlines, Sydney Airport and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority”.

“This program of work is focused on uplifting workforce planning, recruitment, training, roster resilience and system improvements,” the report read.

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“Restoring service consistency at Sydney remains our priority to underpin the effective operation of the national network, and we are committed to working collaboratively with all stakeholders to ensure long-term stability and resiliency.”

The news also comes as the ATSB investigates a number of “near-misses” on the runway at Sydney Airport, with Airservices saying safety remains its “overriding priority”.

“We are cooperating fully with the Australian Transport Safety Bureau on the investigations into six safety occurrences at Sydney Airport. Each occurrence involved different operational circumstances and demonstrated multiple layers of safety controls to prevent further incident,” it said.

“As the Sydney KSA ATC Working Group noted in its communique of 28 August, the aviation safety system is designed to manage operational risks through multiple safeguards and, based on the information currently available, the recent occurrences do not indicate an immediate safety risk to the travelling public.

“We remain focused on continual improvement and collaboration with government and industry stakeholders to maintain the highest standards of aviation safety.”

Airservices deputy chief Peter Curran this month told a Senate committee that 49 ATCs are employed in Sydney, with 41 required to be available for rostering.

Curran also told the committee that Airservices is looking to increase its ATC workforce from 1100 to 1200 by July 2028; 914 are currently available to work as ATCs, more than the 890 he said are needed.

Airservices is reportedly shuffling controllers between Kingsford Smith and Western Sydney Airports as required, with the potential for Sydney’s tower to be temporarily closed during curfew hours from 1 November and freight flights with curfew exemptions rerouted to WSI.