The head of the UK's air traffic control company is facing calls to resign after a technical problem caused flight delays for the second time in two years. The system operated by Nats went down for about 20 minutes on Wednesday, leading to hundreds of flight delays and raising fears of a repeat of the chaos in August 2023 that affected hundreds of thousands of passengers.
British Airways was forced to restrict inbound and outbound flights at Heathrow to 32 per hour until 7.15pm, down from the usual 45 per hour. Ryanair called for Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign or be fired, with chief operating officer Neal McMahon stating that passengers are suffering due to Rolfe's incompetence and mismanagement.
Nats engineers restored the affected system by around 5pm, and normal operations resumed. The technical issue at the control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, restricted the number of aircraft that could fly in England and Wales, causing some flights to hold or divert. The UK National Cyber Security Centre does not view it as a hacking incident.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said she was aware of the issue and that systems had been restored, but continued disruption was expected. A Department for Transport spokesperson confirmed that Nats systems were fully operational and flights were returning to normal, while working to understand the cause of the issue. The department noted that Alexander has no direct control over Nats or staffing decisions.
