A321
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 22
Communication Breakdown; Time Pressure; Workload
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Procedure; Staffing; Weather
Training was taking place at the South Departure sector. Mid-afternoon; the sector was closed and combined with Macon High to allow the training team to debrief before their end of shift. I believe staffing was a factor in the decision to combine sectors. Due to weather south of Atlanta; all departures were deviating towards sector R09 airspace. The R22 controller became extremely busy dealing with the deviations; I was moved from a D-side to reopen South Departure sector. Due to the workload at R22; it took a while before I was able to assume the R21 airspace.When I finally did assume the airspace and frequencies; there was some confusion about which aircraft were on the Macon High frequency and which ones were on the South Departure frequency. While in the process of trying to sort that out; the departures continued to come from ATL; and [the departures] were deviating southwest on about a 210 heading. Aircraft X needed further to the west; [it] was stopped at 17000 feet; and a handoff to sector 09 was attempted. I called the sector and offered to turn Aircraft X; but they said no; they would take the handoff. Aircraft X did get within the protected airspace of 09 prior to acceptance off the handoff; thus causing an airspace violation. I believe that [the] opening and closing sectors for short periods can cause an unsafe situation and [it] contributed to this event. South departure should not have been combined with Macon High due to the complexity resulting from deviating traffic. I would like to see limited use of combing sectors as a tool to compensate for lack of staffing.
ZTL ARTCC Controller reported that the combination of control positions during complex phases; and the need to compensate for inadequate staffing; were the primary factors that led to an airspace violation.