The United Kingdom's air traffic control system experienced significant disruptions on Tuesday due to a technical issue with its flight processing system, leading to the cancellation of more than 1,000 departures and arrivals. The failure, reported by National Air Traffic Services (NATS), caused chaos at major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, and Birmingham, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
The precise cause of the disruption remains unclear, but the incident has prompted calls for NATS chief Martin Rolfe to resign. Ryanair's COO Neal McMahon criticized Rolfe, calling him an "overpaid failure" and urging the UK government and NATS board to appoint new leadership capable of preventing repeated failures. Wizz Air echoed these sentiments, expressing disappointment and stating that NATS is "not fit for purpose in its current form."
Shadow Transport Minister Greg Smith also questioned the incident, stating, "Yet again passengers are stuck on the tarmac wondering why Britain cannot keep its own skies open." He added that the government and NATS must explain the situation and outline plans for improved resilience.
Rolfe is scheduled to meet with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on Wednesday morning. He appeared on Sky News to apologize for the disruption, acknowledging his responsibility as CEO of critical infrastructure and emphasizing his focus on resolving the issue and restoring normal service.
This is not the first technical failure to impact NATS. In the past year, a malfunction led to over 150 flight cancellations, and an August 2023 glitch caused delays or cancellations for more than 700,000 passengers. NATS acknowledged on Tuesday night that recovery from the current complex disruption will take time and advised passengers to check with their airlines for flight status updates.
The widespread cancellations and delays have impacted airlines significantly. British Airways reported that over 100 flights were canceled or diverted, affecting tens of thousands of customers. Ryanair stated that over 65,000 of its passengers were impacted.
Disruption is expected to persist for several days as airlines work to re-route passengers and accommodate affected crew members. Airports saw significant numbers of delayed flights, with Heathrow reporting 352 delays out of its daily average of 1,300, Gatwick 281 out of 850, Manchester 249 out of 650, and Birmingham 101 out of 300.