Originally Posted by
we_were_inverted
unfortunately most of the time it is the poor old GA operators that cop the brunt of it before anyone else, and it’s heartbreaking to see.
In your example for Jandakot, without knowing exactly it sounds to me like they were already short staffed and the ATC on duty were at their maximum operational hours for the day and there was likely no one else available to keep the tower open.
And yet my student at the time is an ATC from the London area who has moved here, applied to Airservices in February for a job and has never even had a response to his expression of interest. It looks from the website like they only want overseas qualified controllers in Queensland, and only Victoria needs trainees, even though it is way beyond crisis point in WA.
Current opportunities - Airservices (airservicesaustralia.com)
So I don't accept staff shortages as a reason for this. This has been going on for several months. Various different voices have come and gone but they still restrict the circuit operations. Someone is probably getting KPIs and pocketing bonuses in Canberra and we have to deal with yet another nail in GA's coffin.
Every time we send a disappointed student home who hasn't been able to have their circuit lesson costs us $500 and this can happen several times a week. Of course the airport leaseholders aren't getting their landing fees either, so they will probably just crank up the rents to cover it. And on it goes.