PARAMARIBO, Suriname, CMC – President Jennifer Greelings-Simons has held emergency talks with representatives of the Suriname Air Traffic Controllers Association (SATCA) after a Suriname Airways (SLM) flight was unable to land at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport and had to be diverted to neighbouring Guyana.
The acting SATCA chair, Lorenzo Soepar, described the meeting as “productive,” with the head of state appointing officials to address the bottlenecks identified during the talks.
Union officials said the crisis at the airport was due to a shortage of qualified controllers and that last week, an SLM aircraft arriving from Belém was unable to land at Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport.
They said that this was due to an unmanned control tower caused by a shortage of personnel following SATCA’s decision to halt substitute shifts immediately.
During Monday’s meeting, fundamental problems within the sector were discussed, ranging from pay to air traffic safety.
Soepar said that the union has been raising the issue since 2023 and that Suriname currently has only 25 qualified air traffic controllers, while at least 80 are needed to safely operate the Zorg en Hoop, Zanderij, and Area Control towers.
“Simple math tells us that one air traffic controller does the work of three people,” he said, adding that the high workload and lack of sufficient rest pose a safety risk.
“If you come from a night shift and they call you after midnight for a cover shift, you’re not properly rested,” he said, noting that it’s irresponsible for employees to have to cover shifts under these circumstances.
In addition to staffing shortages, the department is struggling with outdated equipment that is in dire need of replacement.
Soepar said he will discuss the meeting’s outcome with his members to determine whether they are willing to resume temporary substitute services.
The advisor on aviation and maritime affairs in the presidential office, Faizel Baarn, said that an inventory of outstanding overtime payments will be conducted shortly and that the promise of a new round of staff pay reviews will be kept.
Regarding understaffing, agreements have been reached on new employees, and air traffic controller training will resume on February 6.
The government is also exploring additional options to strengthen staffing in the short term.
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