悉尼机场正面临严重的空中交通管制人员短缺问题。上周超过150班航班遭遇延误[1]，周日上午，一架捷星航班与卡塔尔航空班机在停机坪险些相撞，随后一名空中交通管制员和牵引车驾驶员接受了强制药物和酒精检测[1]。这起事故暴露了机场管制运营面临的严峻压力。
空中交通管制员工会主席Scott Nugent指出，人手不足的直接后果是员工过度疲劳，有管制员工作10天才休息1天[1]。他在评论人力短缺带来的影响时表示："如果你做两个人的工作，你只能接一半的飞机"[1]。据悉，合格空中交通管制员起始年薪为116,990澳元，资深主管基本年薪接近300,000澳元[1]。
人员流失与培训瓶颈加剧了这一困境。2021年疫情期间，140名56岁及以上员工接受冗余补偿而离职[1]。新培训的管制员需要18个月才能在悉尼塔台的一个岗位工作，但培训通过率极低，通常2000人申请仅录取15人[1]。根据官方统计，Airservices Australia的管制员队伍已从2020年12月的985人增至今年7月的1073人[1]，但仍未能满足运营需求。工作环境问题也不容忽视，2023年workplace culture review发现27%员工在过去12个月内遭遇欺凌，这一比例高于2020年的23%[1]。
Sydney Airport has been severely disrupted by a critical shortage of air traffic controllers, with more than 150 flights delayed last week alone [1]. The staffing crisis came into sharp focus on Sunday when a Jetstar aircraft and a Qatar Airways plane nearly collided on the tarmac, prompting mandatory drug and alcohol testing of an air traffic controller and a tug driver involved in the incident [1].
The root cause lies in understaffing that has pushed controllers to their limits. According to the air traffic controllers' union chairman Scott Nugent, the workload imbalance is unsustainable: "If you're doing two people's jobs, you can only accept half the number of aircraft" [1]. Staff shortages have forced controllers into grueling schedules, with some working ten days before receiving a single day off [1]. A 2023 workplace culture review found that 27 percent of employees had experienced bullying in the previous twelve months, up from 23 percent in 2020 [1].
Airservices Australia, the national air traffic management authority, has attempted to address the gap through recruitment and training. The organization increased its controller workforce from 985 in December 2020 to 1,073 by July of this year [1]. However, the training pipeline remains a bottleneck, with newly trained controllers requiring eighteen months to qualify for a position at Sydney Tower [1]. The selectivity of the recruitment process compounds the challenge—typically only 15 candidates are accepted from approximately 2,000 applicants [1]. Entry-level controllers earn a starting salary of AUD $116,990, while senior supervisors can earn close to AUD $300,000 annually [1]. The staffing crisis was partially exacerbated during the pandemic, when 140 employees aged 56 and over accepted redundancy packages in December 2021 [1].