Key facts
- A near-miss collision occurred at Sydney Airport between a Jetstar and a Qatar Airways plane.
- Two workers involved in the incident were temporarily stood down for testing.
Two workers were stood down following a near-miss collision at Sydney Airport involving a Jetstar and Qatar Airways plane. Transport Minister Catherine King stated that improved staff rostering will be implemented next month.
The incident highlights critical safety and operational issues at Sydney Airport, including staff shortages and potential procedural failures, leading to regulatory intervention and union concerns about industry-wide conditions.
Two workers have been temporarily stood down following a near-miss collision at Sydney Airport involving a Jetstar plane and a Qatar Airways plane being towed across a runway. Transport Minister Catherine King has stated that improved staff rostering will be implemented from early September to address "unacceptable" delays and disruptions. The incident, which occurred on Sunday, saw the Jetstar plane narrowly avoid hitting the Qatar Airways aircraft. A cabin crew member aboard the Jetstar plane was injured, and some equipment was damaged. The two stood-down workers are an Airservices Australia air traffic controller and the tug driver. King met with Airservices Australia CEO Rob Sharp to discuss the issues, emphasizing that the delays were unacceptable. She expressed confidence that Airservices Australia is working to resolve the situation and announced a new Sydney Tower simulator to increase training capacity for air traffic controllers. Approximately 95 individuals are expected to be endorsed as air traffic controllers by the end of the year. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) is investigating both this incident and a separate near-miss involving Qantas aircraft on July 27. ATSB head Angus Mitchell described the incidents as unacceptable, noting that pilots had to make emergency decisions to prevent collisions. The Transport Workers' Union has characterized the situation in the aviation industry as a "crisis" due to staff shortages and poor working conditions.