The NATS flight processing system failure that caused more than 2,000 flight cancellations across Britain has left airlines furious, with carriers demanding the head of the air traffic control body consider his position, the BBC reports.
Delays rippled through 15 UK airports for a second successive day as airlines scrambled to reposition aircraft and rebook stranded passengers following the outage at NATS, formerly known as National Air Traffic Services.
The underlying technical fault was resolved on Tuesday afternoon, NATS confirmed. Yet Ryanair said the glitch itself took just 20 minutes to fix, a detail the carrier cited in calling on NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign.
Government backs NATS chief as airlines call for his resignation
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander met Rolfe on Wednesday and gave him one week to complete a full investigation into the incident. Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s office said Rolfe retains the confidence of the government.
The UK government owns 49% of NATS, making it the largest shareholder and giving it a veto over key decisions. Airlines, airports, investors and employees hold the remaining shares in the public-private partnership.
Rolfe apologised on Wednesday for the inconvenience caused by the outage but defended the safety record of the UK’s air traffic control system, describing it as one of the safest and most efficient in the world.
‘Our job is also to make sure that people stay safe,’ he told the BBC. ‘We never do this lightly. We only ever do it when there is an issue that cannot be resolved quickly, and we have to take action to make (sure) those who are flying, who are in the air at that time, are safe. And when we can restore these incredibly complex systems we do so as quickly as we can.’
The disruption is the second air traffic meltdown in three years, airlines noted, compounding their anger.
Passengers stranded as NATS flight processing system failure bites
The NATS flight processing system failure left travellers stranded on runways and in terminals across the country. At Gatwick Airport, roughly 30 miles south of central London, passengers lay on the bare floor beside their luggage. Others gathered around departure boards, waiting for updates.
Heathrow, Europe’s largest airport, urged passengers to check their flight status before travelling and to ‘only travel if your flight is confirmed to be operating.’ The airport said it had deployed extra staff across its terminals to support affected passengers.
Cartoonist Charlie Adlard, 60, who worked on the ‘Walking Dead’ comic book series, was among those caught up in the chaos. He was travelling from his home in western England to a comic book convention in Palermo, Sicily, when his journey unravelled at Heathrow.
After failing to reach British Airways by phone, Adlard said the airline appeared to have switched off its customer service line due to the volume of calls.
‘Due to the lack of information, due to everything crashing now, due to the fact that apparently BA have now switched off their customer service phone number because there’s so many calls, we’re not really sure what to do,’ he said.
Adlard eventually abandoned the trip, returning home after spending money on an airport hotel, dinner and breakfast. ‘So yeah, I’ve lost quite a bit of money on this rather wasteful journey,’ he said.
NATS said it was continuing to support airlines and airports as they recover from the disruption caused by the NATS flight processing system outage. The company must deliver its full investigation findings to the Transport Secretary within the week.
