Control Shortage Leaves Air Full Of Holes

8 July 2008

AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA was repeatedly warned in the past six years about the critical shortage of air traffic controllers which is resulting in sections of Australian airspace regularly going unmonitored.

But it wasn't until the beginning of this year that the Government-controlled air traffic manager introduced a plan to significantly increase the number of recruits.

Airservices has been plagued by a shortage of controllers in the past 12 months, admitting yesterday that large holes in its coverage of Australian air space appear on "numerous" occasions.

The gaps - which force pilots to monitor surrounding traffic on their own for long distances or avoid the area - have affected about 50 flights in the past 10 days.

This includes a gap in south-western NSW for two hours on Sunday night and large holes in northern NSW, southern Queensland and Cape York the previous weekend, all of which contributed to extended flight delays.

The Civil Aviation Authority says there is no risk to passengers but that the situation is "less than perfect".

Airservices says there is a shortage of about 17 controllers across the network and it has introduced a revised working plan which will raise the recruit intake from 48 last year to 80 this year and 100 in 2009.

However, the union representing air traffic controllers - Civil Air - says the shortage is closer to 100 staff and that it began warning the body in 2002 that urgent action was needed.

Letters sent to the chief executive of the organisation over the period warn of a "real and current critical threat to the Australian Aviation industry" created by an aging workforce, increased demand and poor planning. "Over 45 per cent of the workforce is over the age of 45, with approximately 25 per cent of that group aged over 55," one letter says. "Almost 320 operational controllers are within five years of retirement and a minimum of 80 controllers may retire at any time."

But the union also says it does not believe these targets will be met and that, as the industry expands, there will be a shortage of 455 controllers by 2013.

"The current resources ... are not sufficient for such a training demand," the executive secretary of Civil Air, Peter McGuane, said yesterday.

"On average, only 55 per cent of recruits gain their controller's licence and it takes 18 months for recruits to get it. The controllers are currently holding the system together through excessive overtime, so it is hardly surprising that a growing number of staff are looking to the expanding overseas aviation markets for opportunities."

With new air traffic controllers placed on a training wage of $35,404 for two years, the union says a pay rise is essential if Airservices is to attract more new recruits.

It is calling on the body to increase the starting wage to $52,500 - considerably closer to the wage of fully accredited controllers and the starting wage for controllers in India and the Middle East where the aviation industry is growing rapidly.

A spokeswoman for Airservices said yesterday that the body had implemented a range of measures to address the shortage as well as the work plan, including an international recruitment drive and increased training facilities.

She said that the self-separation system - where pilots use their own instruments and communication devices to avoid collisions - was accepted as safe by the Civil Aviation Authority.

However a number of large airlines such as Qantas avoid self-separation as a matter of policy, choosing instead to avoid the unmonitored area completely. In some cases this has led to significant flight delays.


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