 |
37000 Feet | Browse and search NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System |
|
Center controller reported that under-staffing due to covid-19 has resulted in numerous aircraft reroutes.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1737577 |
| Time | |
| Date | 202003 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1801-2400 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | No Aircraft |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Enroute Oceanic |
| Qualification | Air Traffic Control Fully Certified |
| Experience | Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 11 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
I reported to work today for the swing shift. Before coming in; the facility had restarted oceanic traffic with the exception of ZZZ airspace. ZZZ airspace was only going to be staffed due to the coronavirus situation 'as needed.' this meant that any overflight traffic was restricted to flying around ZZZ radar volume as the airspace is not going to be staffed. As a result; aircraft would be inconvenienced and rerouted around a 360 NM diameter of airspace.we regularly when there are radar outages at ZZZ; put the higher altitudes (usually FL320 and above) into the atop system allowing the atop controller to work that airspace volume. This operation allows overflights to fly through ZZZ utilizing non radar rules at the higher altitudes. This operation would allow the airspace to be used without inconveniencing the aircraft operating there. This was suggested but rejected by the union for unknown reasons. Then sector X could be staffed as needed for the approach into ZZZ purposes only.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Center Controller reported that under-staffing due to COVID-19 has resulted in numerous aircraft reroutes.
Narrative: I reported to work today for the swing shift. Before coming in; the facility had restarted oceanic traffic with the exception of ZZZ airspace. ZZZ airspace was only going to be staffed due to the Coronavirus situation 'As Needed.' This meant that any overflight traffic was restricted to flying around ZZZ radar volume as the airspace is not going to be staffed. As a result; aircraft would be inconvenienced and rerouted around a 360 NM diameter of airspace.We regularly when there are radar outages at ZZZ; put the higher altitudes (Usually FL320 and above) into the ATOP system allowing the ATOP controller to work that airspace volume. This operation allows overflights to fly through ZZZ utilizing NON RADAR rules at the higher altitudes. This operation would allow the airspace to be used without inconveniencing the aircraft operating there. This was suggested but rejected by the union for unknown reasons. Then Sector X could be staffed as needed for the approach into ZZZ purposes only.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.