Australia’s Sydney Airport staff shortages prompt plan to close tower overnight

Australia’s major airlines have backed a proposal to close Sydney Airport’s control tower overnight to free up air traffic controllers, the latest step to address a persistent labour shortage that is disrupting flights and raising safety concerns.“It sounds like an opportunity we should absolutely explore,” said Stephen Beckett, chief executive officer of Airlines for Australia & New Zealand, the group that represents Qantas Airways, its low-cost carrier Jetstar, and Australia-holdings" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="206112" data-entity-type="organization">Virgin Australia Holdings. “There seems to be some merit to this proposal,” he said in an interview.At least six safety incidents, close calls and mistakes on the tarmac at Sydney since late July have put a spotlight on the lack of controllers and the impact on air travel. Qantas CEO Vanessa Hudson last month called for the issue to be fixed after 60,000 passengers were affected by flight delays in July alone.The proposal to close the tower was raised at the meeting of a task force specially formed last month to address the disruption in Sydney.A Jetstar A320 passes a Virgin Australia plane on a runway at Sydney Airport on August 21. Photo: ReutersSydney Airport’s existing 11pm – 6am curfew means commercial air traffic would be largely unaffected by any tower closures. But a plan to have no operational tower at Australia’s biggest aviation hub, even temporarily, reflects the urgency of the labour shortfall. Flights exempt from the curfew, such as those dealing with emergencies or carrying medical patients, would have to fend for themselves when landing or taking off.Australia" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="181399" data-entity-type="organization">Airservices Australia manages the country’s airspace and employs air traffic controllers at airports. Beckett said the roster of controllers at Sydney had been too fragile for too long. “That’s had a significant impact on passengers,” he said.The unexpected absence of just one controller at the airport on September 11 was enough to cause significant flight delays the same morning. Closing the tower at night would free up two controllers who could, in theory, be deployed during the day.