It is rare to hear from an Australian air traffic controller.
For most travellers, they are invisible — working behind the scenes, directing aircraft through some of the country’s busiest airspace.
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Scott Nugent has worked as an air traffic controller for eight years and now directs aircraft in Sydney.
While cautious about drawing conclusions about individual recent incidents, Nugent says there is a broader issue at the heart of many of the challenges facing Australian air traffic control: staffing.
Nugent says staffing pressures have been building for years and are placing demands on controllers.
Nugent says some controllers are also working amounts of overtime.
Nugent says responsibility for addressing those pressures rests with Airservices Australia management and decisions made over many years.
One of the moments, Nugent says, came during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About 140 air traffic controllers aged between 56 and 65 were encouraged to retire, according to Nugent.
The staffing challenge comes as Australia’s aviation network undergoes another change.
The new Western Sydney International Airport is preparing to welcome passenger services.
The airport is also introducing a technology Australia has not before used for a passenger airport: a digital air traffic control tower.
Instead of controllers sitting inside a conventional tower at the airport, cameras and other technology provide views of the airport from a remote tower centre about 17km away at Eastern Creek.
In the United States, at least 12 air traffic controllers died by suicide in 2024.
In November 2023, CASA issued a directive to Airservices Australia to expedite the process based on an understanding of the agency’s resources.