Updated August 10, 2026 \u2014 3:50pm,first published August 10, 2026 \u2014 9:38am<\/p>\n
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Two airport workers have been stood down and the chief of Australia\u2019s air traffic control agency has been warned that delays at Sydney Airport have become \u201cunacceptable\u201d as investigators probe the second near-collision between planes on the tarmac in the past two weeks.<\/p>\n
But passengers, who have had to deal with the delays caused by a shortage of air traffic controllers, will have to wait weeks before a new roster comes into effect in September that Airservices Australia hopes will improve reliability.<\/p>\n
An air traffic controller and a ground worker involved in an incident on Sunday have been stood down under their employers\u2019 policies while authorities determine how a Jetstar plane got within metres of striking a Qatar jet.<\/p>\n
The stand-downs, which are common after an incident, come as Transport Minister Catherine King criticised the delays and disruptions after meeting with Airservices Australia chief executive Rob Sharp.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe delays and disruptions we have seen at Sydney Airport over the last three days have been unacceptable and have caused significant disruption to passengers, staff and airlines,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n
Airservices committed to implementing \u201cimproved rostering practices\u201d for Sydney\u2019s air traffic controllers that will be in place from early September, King said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have made my expectations clear that Airservices must carefully manage the situation at Sydney for the rest of August,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sharp apologised for the impact \u201con flight delays\u201d and the effect that has on people\u2019s travel plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to assure the public that safety is not compromised when issues with staffing levels occur,\u201d he said, noting that safety measures can lead to flight delays.<\/p>\n
The Sunday near miss came just weeks after a similar incident in which planes had been given contradictory instructions by controllers at Sydney Airport. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is now investigating. Its chief commissioner, Angus Mitchell, said the incident occurred at low speed but still had the potential to be \u201cvery significant\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose two aircraft should not have come as close as they did,\u201d he said on Seven\u2019s Sunrise. He would not prejudge his organisation\u2019s investigation, but signalled that the traffic control system had been under significant stress.<\/p>\n
Airservices has repeatedly reduced flight frequencies at Sydney Airport over the past week due to shortages of air traffic controllers, leading to major delays.<\/p>\n
One former Airservices controller told this masthead: \u201cThis seems to happen a couple of times a year where…staffing issues directly impact their ability to handle flow.<\/p>\n