FIONA WILLAN, REPORTER: More than 40 million passengers travel through Sydney airport each year but just a few staff absences can bring it to a halt. 

STEPHEN BECKETT, AIRLINES FOR AUSTRALIA AND NZ:  70 per cent of Australia’s domestic airlines fly in and out of Sydney every day. So when you’ve got this kind of impact, it literally will reach every corner of the country.

FIONA WILLAN:  Over the weekend, travellers were told the long waits on the ground were caused by staff shortages in the air control towers.

ROB SHARP, AIRSERVICES AUSTRALIA:  It’s played out quite significantly in Sydney where it’s actually created a lot of frustration across the whole industry sector, the airlines, the airports and our passengers and we do sincerely apologise for that impact. 

FIONA WILLAN:  More than 150 flights were delayed on Saturday. 

On Sunday, there was the second near miss on the airport’s tarmac in two weeks.

Today, the boss of the organisation that manages air traffic was called to a meeting with the transport minister to explain. 

CATHERINE KING, FEDERAL TRANSPORT MINISTER:  What happened over the weekend they accept was unacceptable for passengers in particular 

ROB SHARP:  It was a combination of factors. We did have a sickness higher than usual, but I wouldn’t just blame that. 

FIONA WILLAN:  It’s also not the first time this has happened. 

In January, thousands of holiday plans were thrown into disarray after air traffic controllers took unplanned leave.

REPORTER:  Thousands of passengers have been caught up in major delays at Sydney airport. 

FIONA WILLAN:  In May, Airservices Australia was asked to reveal the tally for the year. 

PETER CURRAN (May 26): There’s been a total of 72 cancellations across the network which were attributable to Airservices.

FIONA WILLAN:  There were more delays last month before two Qantas planes also nearly collided on a Sydney runway.

Then, there was yesterday’s another near miss between a Jetstar and Qatar Airways plane capping off after a weekend of disruptions

ATSB SPOKESMAN:  There’s been some sort of a breakdown – whether it’s through communication or misunderstanding, we don’t know

FIONA WILLAN:  It’s too soon to know what caused the close calls – both are being examined by the transport safety investigator. 

ROB SHARP:  I can’t comment on the details because it is subject to an investigation but what I can say is that safety isn’t compromised through our staffing position. 

FIONA WILLAN:  But the airline industry says there’s no question staff shortages have been causing other problems. 

STEPHEN BECKETT: Well, it’s been a persistent problem that Airservices Australia has struggled to staff the air traffic control towers, particularly out of Sydney. And this is causing havoc to the travelling public of Australia. 

ROB SHARP:  We’re about to roll out a new roster which we believe will help significantly

FIONA WILLAN:  Rob Sharp says the organisation has been working hard to hire more staff but recruiting and training them takes time.

ROB SHARP:  We’ve got over 1070 air traffic controllers. We’ve got another 100 coming through this year. 

FIONA WILLAN:  He says the shortages started during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

ROB SHARP:  When COVID arrived, the organisation took a decision to, I suppose, fast track people who were nearing retirement age. And there was an offer that was put out there. Quite a few air traffic controllers took that offer up. So in hindsight, we found ourselves short.

STEPHEN BECKETT:  So we acknowledge COVID was a real impact, but it’s been a long time since COVID happened, and we need them to get on top of it.

FIONA WILLAN:  The transport minister has told Airservices Australia it needs to do better.

CATHERINE KING:  I can obviously issue them with directions if I need to do that. We’re not at that stage yet.

FIONA WILLAN:  But travellers are being warned – there could be more long waits to come

ROB SHARP:  Look, I think realistically for the balance of August, there is risk. We’re certainly focused on minimising that and avoiding it. But I think the reality is we will still have some residual risk.