Sydney air traffic controllers have ‘grave concerns’ about collision risk after airspace redesign

An air traffic controller has warned changes related to new Western Sydney International airport have been rushed, with ‘inadequate training for controllers, of all experience levels’. Photograph: Sarah Wilson/AAP

Air traffic controllers at Sydney airport have warned federal safety regulators they have “grave concerns” about changes to airspace rules introduced last month, likening the situation to the months leading up to a crash in Washington DC in which 67 people died.

Guardian Australia can reveal the federal government was notified on Thursday of a confidential complaint considered by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), in which an experienced air traffic controller warned in June that changes related to the new Western Sydney International airport had been rushed, with “inadequate training for controllers, of all experience levels”.