Airlines urged to deliver ‘realistic schedules’ amid controller shortage

European air navigation body Eurocontrol has urged air navigation service providers (ANSPs) to “deliver agreed capacities” and reduce air traffic control delays this summer amid warnings a shortage of air traffic controllers has not been addressed.

Guillaume Blandel, operations director at French air navigation service provider DSNA, noted “demand exceeds capacity often” and told a Eurocontrol webinar: “We don’t have enough air traffic controllers, that is why we’re not resilient.”

He reported reduced delays so far this summer after “we negotiated more efficient duty rosters and tightened management of absence”, but acknowledged “current resources” in air traffic control covering southern France “are clearly insufficient”.

Ryanair deputy director for flight operations control Conor Gillardy told the webinar: “Air traffic control delayed 200,000 of our flights last year [and] we’re in weekly contact with DSNA because it is the number one cause of problems.”

He said: “There is huge work to be done on recruitment. There are simply not enough people sitting behind air traffic control desks. 

“The pace of change in [air traffic control] recruitment and training and technology roll-out is glacial.”

However, Gillardy insisted: “We no way are criticising the controllers. Our criticism is of under-resourcing. We need states to give ANSPs appropriate funding so this level of delays does not carry on into the 2030s.”

Bandel warned: “We need to recruit for the next decade because we face increasing traffic and a wall of retirement [of controllers].”

Eurocontrol is urging airlines to “make realistic schedules, including turnaround times”, execute their flight plans and “fly what you file” and airports and airlines to “prioritise the first rotations” (set of flights) of the day.

It reported a 16% reduction in flight delays due to air traffic control last year, despite a 4.3% rise in air traffic last summer on 2024. 

Eurocontrol forecasts traffic this summer will be 2% up on last year – having reduced an earlier forecast of a 3.3% increase due to the US war on Iran – but it notes some weeks from the end June could see an increase in traffic of 5% or more.