Dublin Airport air traffic control staff shortage leaves seven planes circling Knock
Much File Shortage Has Days Told To Do As Training Overwork' Airnav 'low Air Sick Controller And With Overtime' Attributed Pa It Examiner' Staff To Much To The Morale The Picture: 'too 'irish But And Due Traffic An
Air traffic into Dublin Airport was left in chaos early on both Monday and Tuesday morning, due to a shortage of available air traffic controllers (ATCs).
On Monday, seven flights into Dublin Airport were left in a holding pattern over Knock Airport after Dublin’s airspace was closed twice due to a lack of available ATCs.
This was due to a number of factors, including unscheduled sick leave.
There were three shutdowns of overnight arrivals, for 30 minutes apiece, into Dublin Airport on Monday and Tuesday morning.
Airnav, the statutory body responsible for air traffic control in Irish airspace, said a “limited restriction” of 30 minutes was placed on arrivals into Dublin in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
This was due to “short notice illness absences” and mandatory safety training.
That came 24 hours after seven flights, all of them transatlantic and due to land in Dublin, were instructed to circle in a holding pattern over Knock, Co Mayo, for up to 40 minutes as a result of the two 30-minute shutdowns at 2am and 4am.
The Airnav spokesperson said the restrictions were a “regulatory requirement to provide mandatory fatigue breaks”.
They added that the availability of air traffic controllers to cover for short term absences at night is “limited due, in part, to their involvement in training priorities during the day”.
However, one senior air traffic controller told the that the issue is as much one of “very low morale, due to overwork, as it is a result of too much overtime”.
The number of ATCs at Shannon Airport and Dublin Airport has reduced by 10% and 2%, respectively, over the past four years.
Meanwhile, casual leave is hard to come by for ATCs who are frequently called in for overtime shifts due to a lack of staff. Some 177 days of ATC overtime were logged by Dublin’s traffic controllers in October alone.
“A lot of controllers would be doing up to three call-ins a month,” the senior ATC said.
They cited Irish ATCs’ unhappiness with an interview given by Airnav CEO Peter Kearney to the Business Post last month, in which he said Ireland has sufficient ATCs to handle its air traffic.
“We’ve had 12 controllers leave this year, more will follow, it’s very hard to get leave, and the issue is the company doesn’t want to acknowledge that there’s a problem at all,” the senior ATC said.
Fórsa trade union, which represents air traffic controllers, said it is “continuing to work with Airnav to address the current situation, with a focus on the retention and recruitment of staff, and to make the service more sustainable”.