Yesterday, Monday, November 20, at 6 pm, the Civil Aeronautics account reported on the social network meteorological conditions for the aviation in Colombia They were causing a general impact on operations, especially in Bogotá and the southwest of the country.
The bad thing about that post is that far from being a anomalythe situation of flight delay It is becoming a constant for El Dorado, the country’s main airport, and it has worsened since last Friday, November 17.
Caracol Radio learned of versions that would demonstrate that the climate changes generate inconveniences, but in Bogotá the main problem is the lack of the necessary number of air traffic controllers.
And the concern is so great that some rumors indicated yesterday, Monday, November 20, the afternoon of the start of a strike or a operation turtleby these professionals to express their disagreement with this problem.
Staff shortage in Aerocivil
We consulted official sources and we have detected that, although there is no scheduled strikethe Aerocivil does face a staff shortage problemapparently because he did not carry out on time the mandatory medical examinations that controllers must complete every two years, so that, in compliance with international standards, there is a group of them that cannot be scheduled to attend to landing and takeoff responsibilities.
With this panorama, any unforeseen event puts the company in serious difficulties. national air operation. Sources consulted by Caracol Radio said that on Friday, November 17, they coincided five driver absences For different reasons and due to the impossibility of replacing them, the delays generated that day lasted throughout the weekend. And the strong winds that hit the Bogotá Savannah aggravated the difficulty.
In fact, a statement issued by Opaina company that manages in concession the El Dorado airportasked users review itineraries on each airline frequently, because in the last four days, there were an equal number of reports of delays due to difficulties due to “personnel restrictions in air control”, according to the airline’s own explanation. Aerocivil.
Avianca and Latam, the most affected
Of course, the airlines The most affected are those that operate the most flights from Colombia: Avianca and Latam. Given the delays, it is these companies that receive complaints from passengers, without being directly responsible for the delays, at least for these days.
Another of the sources consulted summarized what is happening in one sentence: “They don’t have enough people to operate the control tower”. And he highlighted the urgency of hire staff very quickly or the Christmas and New Year season will be a chaos.
Known the problematicyesterday we contacted the director of Civil Aeronautics, Sergio París, who has not yet given us a response.
