Travellers face delays as chaos ensues in Aussie airspace over bizarre reason
- Replies 9
The Australian skies were thrown into chaos recently as widespread flight cancellations and delays plagued airports across the country.
The culprit? Two air traffic controllers at Sydney Airport called in sick.
This seemingly minor hiccup had a domino effect, causing significant disruptions and leaving passengers stranded and frustrated.
On a typical day, Sydney Airport sees around 50 take-offs and landings per hour.
However, due to the absence of these two key staff members, Airservices Australia had to reduce this number by almost half to just 26.
This drastic reduction led to a ripple effect of delays and cancellations, affecting domestic flights and international connections.
Airservices Australia CEO Jason Harfield confirmed the situation during a senate committee meeting in Canberra.
He revealed that none of the 948 controllers nationwide could fill in for the absent workers.
This revelation sparked criticism and disbelief, with Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie expressing incredulity.
'It’s pretty incredible that two people don’t show up for work, and the whole country is shut down,' she said.
‘When Sydney experiences disruption, the whole country suffers and international travellers are also missing connections as a result of this.’
The meeting uncovered an interesting fact: Airservices Australia staff are entitled to unlimited sick leave.
Despite the criticism, Airservices Australia maintained that safety is always their first priority.
'We have temporarily reduced traffic throughput to manage flights safely within the capacity available,' the service stated.
‘Airservices is enhancing its service resilience by recruiting and training more than 100 new air traffic controllers (ATCs) nationwide since 2020.’
'More than 70 new ATCs are due in FY2024, and a further 80 ATCs are projected to join us each year moving forward to add further depth to our ATC rosters.'
Delays are a common occurrence in air travel, and they are more frequent during peak travel times.
We often hear from pilots they’ll ‘make up time’ in the air whenever a delay occurs. But what does this phrase even mean? A pilot shed light on this common claim.
You can read more about it here.
Have you ever been affected by flight delays or cancellations? Share your experiences in the comments below.
The culprit? Two air traffic controllers at Sydney Airport called in sick.
This seemingly minor hiccup had a domino effect, causing significant disruptions and leaving passengers stranded and frustrated.
On a typical day, Sydney Airport sees around 50 take-offs and landings per hour.
However, due to the absence of these two key staff members, Airservices Australia had to reduce this number by almost half to just 26.
This drastic reduction led to a ripple effect of delays and cancellations, affecting domestic flights and international connections.
Travellers have been experiencing longer delays and missing connections. Credit: Unsplash
Airservices Australia CEO Jason Harfield confirmed the situation during a senate committee meeting in Canberra.
He revealed that none of the 948 controllers nationwide could fill in for the absent workers.
This revelation sparked criticism and disbelief, with Opposition transport spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie expressing incredulity.
'It’s pretty incredible that two people don’t show up for work, and the whole country is shut down,' she said.
‘When Sydney experiences disruption, the whole country suffers and international travellers are also missing connections as a result of this.’
The meeting uncovered an interesting fact: Airservices Australia staff are entitled to unlimited sick leave.
Despite the criticism, Airservices Australia maintained that safety is always their first priority.
'We have temporarily reduced traffic throughput to manage flights safely within the capacity available,' the service stated.
‘Airservices is enhancing its service resilience by recruiting and training more than 100 new air traffic controllers (ATCs) nationwide since 2020.’
'More than 70 new ATCs are due in FY2024, and a further 80 ATCs are projected to join us each year moving forward to add further depth to our ATC rosters.'
Delays are a common occurrence in air travel, and they are more frequent during peak travel times.
We often hear from pilots they’ll ‘make up time’ in the air whenever a delay occurs. But what does this phrase even mean? A pilot shed light on this common claim.
You can read more about it here.
.png){kind=icon}
