by TREVOR YEARWOOD

AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS at the Grantley Adams International Airport staged a major sick-out yesterday.

They were complaining about under-staffing, work pressure and out-of-date equipment.

The airport's administrative staff and instructors were pressed into service to fill the vacuum and an emergency meeting was set up for this morning with the minister and other relevant authorities with a view to settling the dispute.

A spokesman for the controllers who requested anonymity said that for too long the air traffic control section had been undermanned and overworked.

"We are tired. We are sick. We have been working long hours the whole year," the spokesperson said.

Given the greater frequency of airline flights and a larger volume of work, Barbados needs at least 72 air traffic controllers to manage the airport, "but we now have 34 doing the job of 72", the spokesman said.

There are reported to be 57 "established positions" for air traffic controllers, with 23 of them not filled.

By the end of the year, the position could be even worse, with another ten controllers moving on because of retirement and job offers, the spokesman told the SUNDAY SUN.

"It boils down to a safety problem for John Public," the spokesman said. "We are not getting enough rest and there's also the issue of communication equipment, which has deteriorated to the point where it could be considered a safety problem."

The control tower is supposed to have three positions to talk to pilots, but one is "out of commission and cannot be repaired", according to the spokesman.

Minister of International Transport John Boyce told the media yesterday: "It was drawn to my attention that the midnight and morning shifts of the air traffic control for May 3 and 4 reported sick.

"I understand that there are a number of long-outstanding issues which are to be resolved. A meeting is now being arranged between the representatives of the staff of the ministry to discuss and resolve these issues.

"In the meantime, the civil aviation operation at the airport is being managed by the administrative staff and instructors."

The files showed that over the last two to three years, air traffic controllers had complained about equipment, staffing and hours of work.

The Government would have to "urgently address" these problems so as to bring normalcy back to the operation, Boyce said.

The minister said officials of his ministry would have discussions with representatives of the National Union of Public Workers (NUPW) today about the grouses of the air traffic controllers.

On the operations in the flight control tower yesterday, Boyce reported that "there were no problems with aircraft", and that departures and arrivals went as usual.