Flight disruption nationwide caused by two absent Sydney air traffic controllers, Senate hears

Two air traffic controllers who didn’t show up for work at Sydney airport on Monday caused cascading flight delays and cancellations across the country, while the head of the agency responsible for airspace management defended his almost $1m salary, Senate estimates heard on Monday. Officials from Airservices Australia, the government agency responsible for air traffic control and airport firefighting services, appeared before the transport and infrastructure Senate estimates. Its CEO, Jason Harfield, was grilled about his personal pay, concerns of organisational bullying, and stubborn staff shortages resulting from a retirement program that saw 140 controllers leave the workforce in 2021. The opposition senator Bridget McKenzie opened questioning of the agency about active operational disruptions at Sydney airport’s control tower on Monday. Airservices requested a ground delay program from 3pm Monday until the airport’s curfew at 11pm, which is done to avoid planes holding mid-air. The delay restricted arrivals at Sydney airport to 26 an hour, down from the normal cap of 80 take-offs and landings an hour (roughly split between 40 of each). McKenzie said this had led to Qantas cancelling flights and an average delay of 72 minutes on Monday, while Virgin had already delayed 47 flights and had an average delay of 95 minutes. This had flow-on effects to airports around the country, as aircraft for onward flights between different cities were delayed or didn’t arrive. Harfield said the disruptions had nothing to do with weather but were solely related to two air traffic controllers based at Sydney airport’s control tower who were absent from work on Monday, as none of Airservices’ 948 controllers around the country could replace the absent staff. Air traffic controllers are entitled to unlimited sick leave under their terms of employment.<br/>