UK and European low-cost operators have reacted with anger and called for the resignation of the head of UK air traffic control following another disastrous failure of the providers’ service.
Flight delays and schedule fallout are set to continue today across UK and European airspace following an operational meltdown at National Air Traffic Services (NATS).
The failure, which originated in the ATC provider’s flight processing system, forced the cancellation of up to 1,000 flights and disrupted tens of thousands of passengers.
Departures and arrivals throughout the UK were severely disrupted and airports in Ireland and continental Europe were impacted and dozens of aircraft and flight crews were stranded overseas.
Low-cost carriers bore significant operational disruption across core European bases with Ryanair reporting that more than 65,000 of its passengers were affected, forcing it to ground over 50 flights.
Neal McMahon, chief operating officer at Ryanair, called on NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to step down.
“How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO Martin Rolfe accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns? Over three years after Nats' catastrophic 2023 system meltdown, it's clear that nothing has changed, with UK passengers once again suffering avoidable ATC delays of up to eight hours today due a critical Nats ATC system failing."
"Families travelling on holiday, people travelling for work and thousands of visitors to the UK have once again paid the price for NATS' abhorrent failure," McMahon added.
"The astonishing part is that NATS continues to charge airlines and passengers more each year while delivering a worse service. The UK Government, the CAA and the NATS Board must stop making excuses for repeated NATS failures and appoint a new leader capable of running the UK ATC system without repeated failures."
Fellow low-cost carrier Wizz Air also criticised the air navigation service provider: “A critical national infrastructure provider should not repeatedly bring the aviation system to a standstill. NATS is simply not fit for purpose in its current form.”
EasyJet cancelled 200 flights and confirmed that some services were “unable to operate” due to network-wide delays.
EasyJet said in a statement: “We will do all we can to minimise the impact of this for our customers including providing customers on flights unable to operate with their options including a free transfer or refund and meals and hotel accommodation for those who require them.”
The incident has drawn immediate intervention from Whitehall and civil aviation regulators, reigniting political debate over whether the recommendations of previous independent reviews into NATS have been sufficiently enforced.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed she had summoned NATS executives for urgent discussions.
"I'm aware of a technical issue impacting flights at airports including Heathrow and Gatwick," Alexander said. "Technicians have identified the issue and are fixing it as we speak. I know this will be frustrating for passengers and I'm sorry. I am seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and systems that support aviation are up to the job."
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), which oversees NATS' operating licence under the Transport Act 2000, confirmed it has requested an immediate technical dossier from the provider.
The regulator stated it will "consider whether any further steps need to be taken to secure the reliability of the UK's air traffic control system."
Rolfe apologised for the incident and told the BBC Today programme that a full investigation into the breakdown would take place after NATS conceded that resolving the fault had taken “longer than hoped”.
When asked about a previous failure in 2023 when the solution was delayed because an engineer was working from home, he said "everybody was in the right place".
"We had all the engineers in place. We had our various partners from software industries and so on all on hand. So this was resolved as quickly as it could be, but within the limits of making sure that it all stayed safe," he said.
On August 28, 2023, an unusual flight plan triggered an automated safety shutdown of primary and backup flight planning systems at NATS, resulting in more than 1,600 flight cancellations, disruption to over 700,000 passengers, and an estimated £100 million in carrier costs.
After remote intervention options failed, an engineer had to travel by car to NATS HQ in Swanwick.
It took an additional 90 minutes to arrive on site, meaning the specialist did not reach the facility until three hours and 15 minutes after the shutdown began.
That incident prompted an independent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) review containing 34 recommendations for operational and communications reform across the UK air traffic management sector.
