In Australia, planes are navigating alone due to a severe shortage of air traffic controllers. At Darwin Airport, flights like those from Virgin Australia and Qantas Airways Ltd. operate without midnight control services.

Pilots in Australia are becoming increasingly concerned about a potential mid-air accident as a result of empty airport towers brought on by a lack of air traffic controllers, leaving passenger planes to navigate alone.

At Darwin, the northern gateway for carriers such as Virgin Australia and Qantas Airways Ltd., there are currently no midnight air traffic control services available. Schedules indicate that over a dozen flights must arrive or depart with virtually no guidance from the ground almost every day at midnight.

The Townsville airport, which serves as a popular gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, is located on Australia's northeast coast. However, during weekends, its control tower is unmanned. Sundays alone need about fifty commercial carriers t...