February 8 & 10, 2024

A labor union that represents air traffic controllers and other workers at the Transport Ministry on February 6 urged the government to substantially increase the number of controllers in order to prevent a recurrence of an accident similar to the Haneda Airport runway collision that occurred at the beginning of January.

The union, which is affiliated with the Japan Federation of National Public Service Employees’ Unions (Kokko-roren), also demanded that the union’s opinions be heard at a committee discussing countermeasures to prevent airport accidents.

This action took place in reaction to the ministry’s decision to establish a new post at Haneda and other major airports for the constant monitoring of aircraft by radar to prevent accidents on runways. The ministry, however, showed no intent to increase the number of controllers and explained that the accident prevention will be performed by revising the division of roles among the existing staff.

At a press conference after the petition, union chair Yamazaki Masato said that despite an increase in the number of flights handled at air control centers, the number of air traffic control staff has remained unchanged for years and thus the workload per person keeps increasing. He appealed for the need to increase the number of air traffic controllers in order to protect the safety of passengers and flight crews.

Ministry data show that the number of aircraft which air traffic controllers in Japan handle increased to 6.95 million in 2019 from 4.63 million in 2004. On the other hand, the number of controllers hovers between 1,900 and 2,050.

At Haneda Airport where one aircraft lands every two minutes, about 90 air traffic controllers work rotating shifts to ensure 24-hour operations.

Past related article:
> JCP calls for deploying sufficient number of flight controllers to Haneda Airport [January 13, 2024]