Mega Merged: AsA ATC staffing levels
One aspect of this that I find quite amusing is that some/most carriers delay or cancel sectors when TIBA is active. The airlines suffer due to the exact same corporate behemoth greed and short staffing that they, themselves love so much.
Given that the only "planned " leave is an 18 month lead rec leave system, these numbers would include, maternity, paternity, long service and carers leave.
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Wow....read the regulators response
So a breach of the safety regulations is ok because it wasnt seen to be having an impact. Fast forward a few months later.......... (note: inadequate staffing levels is a breach of CASR 172.110) Why wasn't this issued as a safety finding?
When was the last time, if ever, that CASA took meaningful enforcement action aginst AsA?
CASA issued a Safety Observation due to concerns over ASA having insufficient staff at Sydney TCU. The observation was based on evidence that the Airservices calculated number of staff required was insufficient to continue to provide the service. At the time of surveillance, Sydney TCU had not experienced an interruption to service.
Should the matters not be resolved CASA may elevate the issues to enforcement action as outlined within the CASA Enforcement Manual.
Last edited by alphacentauri; 24th Jan 2023 at 21:14.
We employ more than 900 air traffic controllers and require 800 air traffic controllers at any one time to fully staff the air traffic management system across the country
Allowing for leave etc and a 8.5 hr productive shift it needs about 5.2 controllers to man a position H24 (and I'm sure we've all worked with a 0.2 mate!). That means 900 staff members could man 173 positions; however, some of these are not H24. Even so the numbers do not add up.
Gne
Gne
Here you go. Safety was never compromised…blah blah blah
Staffing shortages at Sydney’s air traffic control tower during wild storms meant flight crews were not given the most up-to-date weather information or told about an unauthorised drone.
A Qantas flight from Santiago was among those caught up in the mayhem, highlighted in an internal Airservices Australia report about “insufficient staff supervision” on February 18.
With only three controllers to do the work of five, there was “controller overload, failure to report reportable matters, failure to provide flight information, and failure to issue a hazard alert” the Sydney traffic manager’s report said.
“At approximately 7am, the Bureau of Meteorology advised there was a severe gust front approaching from the southwest. Additionally there were SIGMETs (significant weather warnings) issued,” said the report.
“These meteorology products were not disseminated and broadcast as per the flight information service provisions. This information was vital to pilots, including (Qantas flight) QF28 which diverted to Newcastle while operating on minimum fuel.”
An airline source confirmed the pilots on QF28 were not told of the more severe weather as the Boeing 787-9 approached Sydney after flying from Santiago, Chile.
READ MORE: Three-way tussle for Qantas CEO emerges | Qantas ‘best in world’ claim put to the test | Qantas offers little hope of cheaper airfares |Qantas rebounds with huge profit, aided by high airfares | Qantas sets a date for Wi-Fi on international flights | ‘Travel on a Tuesday’: Joyce says cheaper flights aboundAs a result the flight burnt up valuable fuel before it became apparent they would not be able to land in Sydney and would have to divert.
With Canberra Airport also impacted by severe storms, the decision was made to fly to Newcastle despite the airport having no customs or immigration.
Airservices’ air traffic management director was asked to assist with the diversion but did not respond in a timely fashion, leaving the Sydney controllers to gather landing details.
“The pilot advised they would declare MAYDAY fuel if there was any delay for arrival at Newcastle,” said the report.
New & improved business newsletter.Get the edge with AM and PM briefings, plus breaking news alerts in your inbox.
Sign upUltimately the flight landed on a “severely shortened runway” and passengers were unable to disembark because there was no processing staff or facilities.
As the chaos was unfolding, Sydney air traffic controllers became aware of an unauthorised drone in the airport vicinity but no hazard alert was issued and the in-flight emergency response checklist was not followed.
“During these events, controllers were overloaded due to staff shortages,” said the report.
“In a normal operating environment this event would be managed by opening five air traffic control consoles. Staffing only allowed for three consoles to be opened with a very short opportunity to open a fourth.”
The incident was the latest in a string of issues affecting Airservices due to staff shortages, blamed on a higher than average amount of “unplanned leave” or sickies.
The airline source said it was frustrating the shortages were having a flow on effect, resulting in disruption to flights.
“These staff shortages have been going on for a year now,” said the source.
“Airservices Australia needs to sort this out quickly or the travelling public are going to continue having their flights delayed or cancelled.”
An Airservices spokeswoman said they were well prepared for the February 18 weather event, and provided “safe and efficient services” for the storms’ duration.
She denied the key criticisms in the Sydney traffic manager’s report, insisting there was sufficient staff supervision and aircraft were informed of the drone.
“Airservices employs more than 900 air traffic controllers, 97 per cent of which are in operational roles,” said the spokeswoman.
“Airservices requires about 800 ATCs to fully staff the ATC network.”
In a recent email, an Airservices manager implored controllers to return the goodwill showed to them during Covid and suggested any shortages were due to “an alarming level of unplanned leave”.
The air traffic controllers’ union, Civil Air, responded by urging members not to go to work if they felt fatigued or stressed, and warned that the longer staffing levels remained critical, the more unplanned leave would be taken.
A Qantas flight from Santiago was among those caught up in the mayhem, highlighted in an internal Airservices Australia report about “insufficient staff supervision” on February 18.
With only three controllers to do the work of five, there was “controller overload, failure to report reportable matters, failure to provide flight information, and failure to issue a hazard alert” the Sydney traffic manager’s report said.
“At approximately 7am, the Bureau of Meteorology advised there was a severe gust front approaching from the southwest. Additionally there were SIGMETs (significant weather warnings) issued,” said the report.
“These meteorology products were not disseminated and broadcast as per the flight information service provisions. This information was vital to pilots, including (Qantas flight) QF28 which diverted to Newcastle while operating on minimum fuel.”
An airline source confirmed the pilots on QF28 were not told of the more severe weather as the Boeing 787-9 approached Sydney after flying from Santiago, Chile.
READ MORE: Three-way tussle for Qantas CEO emerges | Qantas ‘best in world’ claim put to the test | Qantas offers little hope of cheaper airfares |Qantas rebounds with huge profit, aided by high airfares | Qantas sets a date for Wi-Fi on international flights | ‘Travel on a Tuesday’: Joyce says cheaper flights aboundAs a result the flight burnt up valuable fuel before it became apparent they would not be able to land in Sydney and would have to divert.
With Canberra Airport also impacted by severe storms, the decision was made to fly to Newcastle despite the airport having no customs or immigration.
Airservices’ air traffic management director was asked to assist with the diversion but did not respond in a timely fashion, leaving the Sydney controllers to gather landing details.
“The pilot advised they would declare MAYDAY fuel if there was any delay for arrival at Newcastle,” said the report.
New & improved business newsletter.Get the edge with AM and PM briefings, plus breaking news alerts in your inbox.
Sign upUltimately the flight landed on a “severely shortened runway” and passengers were unable to disembark because there was no processing staff or facilities.
As the chaos was unfolding, Sydney air traffic controllers became aware of an unauthorised drone in the airport vicinity but no hazard alert was issued and the in-flight emergency response checklist was not followed.
“During these events, controllers were overloaded due to staff shortages,” said the report.
“In a normal operating environment this event would be managed by opening five air traffic control consoles. Staffing only allowed for three consoles to be opened with a very short opportunity to open a fourth.”
The incident was the latest in a string of issues affecting Airservices due to staff shortages, blamed on a higher than average amount of “unplanned leave” or sickies.
The airline source said it was frustrating the shortages were having a flow on effect, resulting in disruption to flights.
“These staff shortages have been going on for a year now,” said the source.
“Airservices Australia needs to sort this out quickly or the travelling public are going to continue having their flights delayed or cancelled.”
An Airservices spokeswoman said they were well prepared for the February 18 weather event, and provided “safe and efficient services” for the storms’ duration.
She denied the key criticisms in the Sydney traffic manager’s report, insisting there was sufficient staff supervision and aircraft were informed of the drone.
“Airservices employs more than 900 air traffic controllers, 97 per cent of which are in operational roles,” said the spokeswoman.
“Airservices requires about 800 ATCs to fully staff the ATC network.”
In a recent email, an Airservices manager implored controllers to return the goodwill showed to them during Covid and suggested any shortages were due to “an alarming level of unplanned leave”.
The air traffic controllers’ union, Civil Air, responded by urging members not to go to work if they felt fatigued or stressed, and warned that the longer staffing levels remained critical, the more unplanned leave would be taken.
User comment published on the above Australian article
Why can Airservices decide what safety services it will provide?
That is like allowing a food manufacturer to decide if botulism is OK in its food or for each car driver to decide what road rules to obey or ignore.
Seriously, Airservices is just a provider of Air Traffic Services; it has NO EXPERTISE in deciding what is required.
Decisions on the services required should be made by experienced aircraft pilots backed up by risk management expertise informed by those pilots.
There is none of that at Airservices.
But we have an Aviation Safety regulator called CASA which has those skills in house.
Next time you are a passenger in an aircraft flying in cloud consider how you feel about other aircraft being in the same cloud without any Air Traffic Control separation service
– just pilots being told about other aircraft and expected to look out the window, see and avoid. Hard to do that in cloud.
In developed places like North America and Europe, every aircraft flying in cloud is provided with an ATC separation service.
That is not always so in Australia precisely because people without the required skills are left to decide what services they feel like providing.
Airservices Act: “the extent to which AA provides services and facilities is subject to AA's discretion."
Think I’m kidding you?
On 19th February 2020 four people died when two aircraft collided near Mangalore Victoria without an ATC separation service when flying in conditions that precluded self separation.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications...ir/ao-2020-012
It could happen any day at Ballina, Gladstone, Orange, Bathurst, Armidale, or any of a host of other regional cities - and it could involve airline aircraft!
That is like allowing a food manufacturer to decide if botulism is OK in its food or for each car driver to decide what road rules to obey or ignore.
Seriously, Airservices is just a provider of Air Traffic Services; it has NO EXPERTISE in deciding what is required.
Decisions on the services required should be made by experienced aircraft pilots backed up by risk management expertise informed by those pilots.
There is none of that at Airservices.
But we have an Aviation Safety regulator called CASA which has those skills in house.
Next time you are a passenger in an aircraft flying in cloud consider how you feel about other aircraft being in the same cloud without any Air Traffic Control separation service
– just pilots being told about other aircraft and expected to look out the window, see and avoid. Hard to do that in cloud.
In developed places like North America and Europe, every aircraft flying in cloud is provided with an ATC separation service.
That is not always so in Australia precisely because people without the required skills are left to decide what services they feel like providing.
Airservices Act: “the extent to which AA provides services and facilities is subject to AA's discretion."
Think I’m kidding you?
On 19th February 2020 four people died when two aircraft collided near Mangalore Victoria without an ATC separation service when flying in conditions that precluded self separation.
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications...ir/ao-2020-012
It could happen any day at Ballina, Gladstone, Orange, Bathurst, Armidale, or any of a host of other regional cities - and it could involve airline aircraft!
You run people into the ground and wonder why they're unfit for duty? Goodwill only goes so far and wasn't a recognised fatigue or stress management technique last time I looked.
The RIS was a good idea at the time (Your Honour) when it was thought the COVID downturn would last considerably longer than it turned out to be. Given most of us who went probably would have done so within a few years anyway it wasn't such a silly idea when it was proposed. Even when the first of us went towards the end of 2021 it wasn't obvious how rapidly the upturn would kick in. Certainly in hindsight it wasn't a great move.
The RIS was a good idea at the time (Your Honour) when it was thought the COVID downturn would last considerably longer than it turned out to be. Given most of us who went probably would have done so within a few years anyway it wasn't such a silly idea when it was proposed. Even when the first of us went towards the end of 2021 it wasn't obvious how rapidly the upturn would kick in. Certainly in hindsight it wasn't a great move.
With only three controllers to do the work of five, there was “controller overload, failure to report reportable matters, failure to provide flight information, and failure to issue a hazard alert”
Another likely scenario is that one controller was operating three different ATC positions at once, 3 frequencies (124.7, 133.8 and 127.6), 3 different consoles, and 3 different responsibilities - ADC, Clearance Delivery and Coordinator.
The weather on that evening was brutal and in those circumstances of rapidly changing weather, multiple sources of weather including via facsimile (yes, a fax), unexpected and unauthorised drone activity it then falls to the Coordinator to update things quickly and efficiently. Often it changes between creating and broadcasting on ATIS. Difficult to do if you are also responding to aircraft calls on other frequencies and potentially at other consoles. Überlingen anyone?
It would interesting to see the staff allocation sheet from that evening to see which positions a single controller was operating concurrently. Not as a criticism of the individual controller but rather how dangerous it really is. Human factors anyone?
CASA / ATSB, where are you? Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, where are you? Minister for Communications - where are you? Minister for Creative Writing (Arts), where are you?
Safety though? That takes care of itself doesn’t it?
The most likely scenario with three controllers means that one controller is performing ADC, one controller is performing SMC, and the other controller is performing Clearance Delivery, Coordinator and Supervisor or using AsA jargon, Operational Command Authority.
Another likely scenario is that one controller was operating three different ATC positions at once, 3 frequencies (124.7, 133.8 and 127.6), 3 different consoles, and 3 different responsibilities - ADC, Clearance Delivery and Coordinator.
The weather on that evening was brutal and in those circumstances of rapidly changing weather, multiple sources of weather including via facsimile (yes, a fax), unexpected and unauthorised drone activity it then falls to the Coordinator to update things quickly and efficiently. Often it changes between creating and broadcasting on ATIS. Difficult to do if you are also responding to aircraft calls on other frequencies and potentially at other consoles. Überlingen anyone?
It would interesting to see the staff allocation sheet from that evening to see which positions a single controller was operating concurrently. Not as a criticism of the individual controller but rather how dangerous it really is. Human factors anyone?
CASA / ATSB, where are you? Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, where are you? Minister for Communications - where are you? Minister for Creative Writing (Arts), where are you?
Another likely scenario is that one controller was operating three different ATC positions at once, 3 frequencies (124.7, 133.8 and 127.6), 3 different consoles, and 3 different responsibilities - ADC, Clearance Delivery and Coordinator.
The weather on that evening was brutal and in those circumstances of rapidly changing weather, multiple sources of weather including via facsimile (yes, a fax), unexpected and unauthorised drone activity it then falls to the Coordinator to update things quickly and efficiently. Often it changes between creating and broadcasting on ATIS. Difficult to do if you are also responding to aircraft calls on other frequencies and potentially at other consoles. Überlingen anyone?
It would interesting to see the staff allocation sheet from that evening to see which positions a single controller was operating concurrently. Not as a criticism of the individual controller but rather how dangerous it really is. Human factors anyone?
CASA / ATSB, where are you? Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, where are you? Minister for Communications - where are you? Minister for Creative Writing (Arts), where are you?
In a recent email, an Airservices manager implored controllers to return the goodwill showed to them during Covid and suggested any shortages were due to an alarming level of unplanned leave
Ask the manager who sent that email about North Melbourne.
There are notams out today informing of large swathes of airspace at ‘reduced capacity due to operational restrictions’ around Queensland.
for the controllers or ex controllers here, what does that actually look like on the ground. Are there individual controllers trying to manage more airspace than usual? Are we one sick call away from having airspace TIBA ? I flew through the area and all seemed normal from a pilots perspective .
for the controllers or ex controllers here, what does that actually look like on the ground. Are there individual controllers trying to manage more airspace than usual? Are we one sick call away from having airspace TIBA ? I flew through the area and all seemed normal from a pilots perspective .
Good work Tossbag,
Strangely I had taken to YouTube just last week in an attempt to secure footage of the Coaches box in the early 90's.
Unfortunately it was after a couple of Shandies and my interest waned quickly.....I would put money on the fact the truth is out there!
Strangely I had taken to YouTube just last week in an attempt to secure footage of the Coaches box in the early 90's.
Unfortunately it was after a couple of Shandies and my interest waned quickly.....I would put money on the fact the truth is out there!
I would put money on the fact the truth is out there!