Australian airlines back plan to shut Sydney control tower overnight

SYDNEY – Australia’s major airlines 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 of Airlines for Australia & New Zealand, the group that represents Qantas Airways, its low-cost carrier Jetstar, and 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 chief executive Vanessa Hudson in August 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 taskforce specially formed in August to address the disruption in Sydney.Sydney Airport’s existing 11pm to 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.Airservices Australia manages the country’s airspace and employs air traffic controllers at airports. Beckett said the roster of controllers at Sydney has 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 Sept 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. In an email, Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) said: “Airservices Australia is exploring an option to temporarily vary the operating hours of Sydney Air Traffic Control Tower services overnight.”But CASA said it has not received an application seeking approval for such a proposal. Airservices Australia is “considering all options to ensure the efficient use of our qualified workforce”, it said in an email. “Any changes to air traffic services at Sydney Airport would be subject to “thorough safety assessment processes”, including approval by the regulator. Bloomberg