Air traffic controller shortage disrupts major tourist gateway of Ballina-Byron Bay

The air traffic control staffing crisis has spread to one of Australia’s most popular tourist gateways, resulting in all too frequent flight delays and a ‘do better’ letter from the CEO.

“Unacceptable” staff shortages in air traffic control have been blasted by one airport chief, who has told Airservices Australia the situation is damaging their business reputation.

In a letter to Airservices seen by The Australian, Ballina-Byron Bay Gateway Airport chief executive Julie Stewart said airlines were delaying flights in response to “consistent interruptions to surveillance flight information service (SFIS) staffing hours”.

“These delays are being explained to travelling passengers as ‘Ballina airspace closures’ when in fact the airlines (Jetstar and Virgin Australia) appear to be delaying flights to Ballina-Byron Bay or departing the airport, to ensure SFIS is on duty,” Ms Stewart wrote.

“This situation is considered unacceptable as there are no exceptional circumstances for these shortfalls that is being explained to us or the airlines.”

On time performance data for April showed more than a third of flights leaving the popular tourist gateway departed late, and 32.8 per cent arrived more than 15 minutes behind schedule.

The airport’s concerns followed an Australian Transport Safety Bureau report on a sharp increase in complaints from air traffic controllers about staff shortages, particularly at busy Sydney Airport.

The ATSB noted that it had received a “large number of reports” from air traffic controllers in the past four months, compared to just one in the last five years.

“Fifteen of those reports have come from Sydney,” the ATSB said.

The complaints received through a confidential reporting scheme expressed “grave concerns” about the safety of air traffic control procedures out of Sydney.

One complaint said, “I can no longer sit back and watch the unsafe procedures and management practices taking place at Airservices Australia, particularly in the Sydney traffic control unit”.

“When highlighted that rules and procedures are being broken, the rules and procedures are changed with the stroke of a pen by unqualified people to give the appearance of compliance,” the report said.

Another said Airservices had “eroded the collective experience level of the controllers in Sydney by paying many to leave”.

“This has left a significant void in our knowledge base. The list of misgivings is so long it’s hard to articulate. It’s overwhelming the way management is mitigating away safety standards and training requirements for staff,” the report said.

The ATSB noted the Civil Aviation Safety Authority had conducted surveillance at the Sydney TCU in response to the concerns, and found there was a lack of supervision.

“CASA continues to work with the service provider on their planned actions to rectify noncompliance with (the regulation relating to supervisory personnel),” said CASA’s response.

Airservices denied there was a staff shortage in Sydney, saying there were 47 operational air traffic controllers employed, which was the number required under their workforce plan.

The government-owned agency acknowledged there had been higher levels of staff absence due to illness which had been managed through increased overtime shifts, and “various traffic management procedures”.

Air traffic controllers are entitled to unlimited sick leave in recognition of the fact they always need to be fit for duty in high stress situations.

On June 9, staff shortages at Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne airports saw one in five Qantas flights delayed, and disruption to other airlines’ schedules.

On the same day, the airspace around Ballina-Byron Bay was closed for 90 minutes due to the lack of staff.

Qantas now routinely texted passengers to inform them their flight was delayed due to air traffic control staff shortages.

Virgin Australia confirmed the airline had experienced disruption on some services to Ballina due to workforce issues at Airservices Australia.

In response, Virgin undertook risk assessments before going ahead with flights to ensure the airspace was completely safe.

Staff shortages at Airservices have even caught the attention of Federal Transport Minister Catherine King, who recently took up the issue with chairman John Weber.

A recruitment drive was launched shortly afterwards to alleviate pressure on hot spots, with the aim of hiring 80 air traffic controllers by mid-2024.

On Tuesday, an Airservices Australia spokeswoman acknowledged there had been “service variations” at Ballina-Byron Bay due to unplanned sick leave among staff.

“Airservices is enhancing its service resilience by recruiting more than 50 air traffic control trainees nationwide in the next three months to add further depth to our ATC rosters,” said the spokeswoman.

“This also includes four new air traffic controllers to service Ballina airspace.”

Originally published as Air traffic controller shortage disrupts major tourist gateway of Ballina-Byron Bay