Ryanair. Photo: Vytautas Kielaitis / Shutterstock.com Ryanair has called for the resignation of the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) chief executive Martin Rolfe after a major technical failure in the UK's air traffic control system caused widespread flight delays and cancellations across the country.
The disruption began on Tuesday, September 8, when a problem affected NATS' flight data processing system. The failure hit major airports including Heathrow, Gatwick, London City, Luton, Edinburgh and Bristol, creating delays that continued well after the technical issue itself was resolved.
The airline said the disruption caused delays of up to eight hours for more than 65,000 Ryanair passengers and led to the cancellation of more than 50 scheduled flights.
Ryanair added that the latest incident comes just three years after NATS experienced a major system collapse in August 2023. The company argued that UK passengers are once again paying the price for what it described as NATS' failure to provide a reliable air traffic control service.
Ryanair also criticized the cost of the UK's air traffic control system, saying charges paid by airlines have increased by 28% since 2022. The airline said the latest failure came despite previous investigations, reviews and assurances that lessons had been learned and the system's resilience would improve.
Ryanair COO Neal McMahon said passengers should not have to continue suffering the consequences of repeated failures.
“How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns?” McMahon said.
He argued that more than three years after the 2023 system collapse, UK passengers were again facing avoidable ATC delays of up to eight hours because of a critical NATS system failure.
McMahon said the disruption affected families traveling on holiday, people traveling for work and visitors to the UK. He also criticized NATS for continuing to increase charges while, in Ryanair's view, delivering a poorer service.
“Following the 2023 collapse, we were told lessons would be learned. We were told ‘resilience would improve’. We were told the systems had been fixed. Yet here we are again,” McMahon said.
Ryanair described the latest incident as part of what it considers a repeated pattern of failures under Rolfe's leadership. The airline also claimed that the NATS CEO receives more than £1.4 million in bonuses each year.
McMahon called on the UK Government, the Civil Aviation Authority and the NATS Board to take action over the latest disruption.
“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,” he said.
Today, September 10, Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary issued a statement on his social media, saying:
"Martin Rolfe is incompetent. He needs to be dismissed. The UK airlines want somebody competent to be put in charge of the UK ATC services so that 1. it doesn't collapse again next year and 2.if there is a system collapse, there is an effective backup. Why was there no backup this week? We need a reliably functioning ATC system in the UK, and Martin Rolfe has proved again and again and again that he is not the person to deliver.
"Sack Martin Rolfe, replace him with somebody competent," O'Leary added.
Ryanair's statement comes as the airline continues to criticize NATS over the reliability of the UK's air traffic control system. The airline said the latest disruption demonstrates that previous assurances about improvements following the 2023 collapse have not been fulfilled.
“It’s time for overpaid failure Martin Rolfe to go,” McMahon said.