Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has intensified calls for the resignation of Martin Rolfe, chief executive of Britain's National Air Traffic Services (NATS), following a major technical failure that caused widespread flight disruptions across the UK.
O'Leary accused Rolfe of "hiding behind safety" and stated that the NATS chief "should be sacked." The criticism comes as dozens more flights were cancelled on the third day of chaos stemming from the technical issues. A total of 51 services were axed on September 10, with London Heathrow being the most affected airport, experiencing 28 cancellations.
"It is beyond my comprehension how the guy who has visited three collapses on UK ATC is asked to do the investigation into his own screw-ups," O'Leary told reporters in Dublin. He suggested the UK government, which owns 49% of NATS, was "trying to protect" Rolfe, who earned approximately £1.42 million in pay and bonuses last year and £1.49 million the year prior.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander met with Rolfe on September 9 to discuss the disruption and the scale of the failure. Rolfe has been given one week to provide a report on the cause of the technical glitch, which is expected to cost the aviation industry tens of millions of pounds. Alexander informed Parliament that she did not believe the failure was "unavoidable" and has requested the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct an independent review.
"A four-hour air traffic outage yesterday left hundreds of thousands of passengers facing cancellations, diversions and delays," Alexander stated, apologizing to passengers and vowing to leave "no stone unturned." She confirmed that a cyber-attack has been ruled out as a cause for this incident.
Despite the severe disruption, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham indicated that the government still had confidence in Rolfe, stating he had been tasked with carrying out the investigation. The spokesperson added that Alexander had raised "significant concerns" with Rolfe regarding the scale of the disruption.
The disruption, which began on September 8, has impacted an estimated 330,000 passengers. More than 2,000 flights have been cancelled since Tuesday, with airlines facing significant knock-on effects as they work to reposition crews and aircraft. Airlines UK, an industry association, reported that over 155,000 passengers had flights cancelled and more than 180,000 experienced delays.
In a letter to the Transport Secretary, Airlines UK chief executive Tim Alderslade called for action, emphasizing that airlines should not bear responsibility for failures they cannot control. The organization highlighted that the flight-processing system had failed, and the full impact of the disruption was still unfolding.
The CAA has stated that passengers are unlikely to be entitled to compensation for the cancellations and delays, as the NATS issue is likely to be considered the result of "extraordinary circumstances." While airlines are expected to assist passengers, compensation for direct losses from the incident may not apply.
Rolfe had previously apologized for the chaos, taking "full responsibility" and promising a "thorough and full investigation." He noted that while complex systems can experience failures, NATS plans for such events. He also defended the UK's air traffic control service as having one of the best global reputations for safety and resilience, citing over £1 billion invested in technology since NATS was partially privatized 25 years ago.
NATS confirmed the failure occurred in its flight processing system at its Swanwick headquarters. However, the organization stated this was not the same issue that caused outages in 2023 and 2025. Rolfe indicated that this current incident appeared to be a new type of failure, unlike any seen in NATS's 50-year operational history.
Meanwhile, passengers faced further difficulties at major airports, with baggage reclaim areas descending into chaos. Travellers reported packed baggage halls and expressed fears of escalating tensions as they struggled to retrieve their luggage separated from them during the NATS meltdown. Videos circulating online showed scenes of disarray in baggage halls at Heathrow Airport.