On the morning of September 11, a staffing issue reared its head again: due to a shortage of air traffic controllers, traffic intensity at Sydney Airport had to be restricted. About **14 arriving flights were canceled**, and delays for some aircraft exceeded an hour. By midday, the situation had normalized. Peter Carran, a representative of the government agency Airservices Australia, informed a parliamentary committee that several staff members were unexpectedly absent the previous evening and could not be replaced. Sydney has **49 air traffic controllers**, while 41 are needed for normal operations. Eight people have been absent for a long time, so there is virtually no reserve. ## Six Incidents in About a Month The staffing situation drew particular attention after a series of incidents that began in late July. The ATSB is investigating six cases, trying to determine whether there is a common systemic cause among them. It is more accurate to say that there are not six “narrowly averted collisions”: the Australian bureau classifies incidents differently, and only one of them has officially been categorized as **near collision**. One of the most serious episodes occurred on **August 9**. A Boeing 737 from Virgin Australia was cleared for takeoff from runway 34L. As the crew was already increasing thrust, the pilots saw a Boeing 737 from Qantas ahead, crossing the same runway. The Virgin crew aborted the takeoff, and the controller canceled the takeoff clearance. A collision was avoided. In another case, at the end of July, a landing QantasLink aircraft found itself on the same runway as a Boeing 737 from Qantas, which the controller had cleared to cross it. The conflict was detected in time, and the second aircraft stopped. ## Controllers Worked Amid High Fatigue Additional questions arose after a Reuters investigation. The publication obtained internal documents and a recording of a service conversation indicating that several controllers working during the July incident had a high fatigue risk score. One shift supervisor described the staffing situation as extremely difficult. The Civil Air controllers' union had previously stated that there were not enough staff and that the system in Sydney largely relied on overtime work. According to ABC, some controllers may have worked more than 20 additional hours a week. Airservices Australia states that passenger safety was not compromised: when there is a staff shortage, the agency reduces the number of flights serviced simultaneously. However, this leads to delays and cancellations. The ATSB is currently trying to determine whether the six incidents had **common causes — staffing shortages, employee fatigue, communication issues, or traffic organization problems**. Preliminary reports on the series of incidents are expected by the end of September.
