Summary
- Ryanair blames UK ATC provider NATS for significant delays at London Gatwick Airport on account of staff shortages.
- The airline has called for the CEO of NATS to resign or be faraway from his post, blaming him for mismanagement, multiple times.
- Ryanair has constantly criticized NATS for past disruptions at UK airports.
Ryanair has blamed the UK’s (UK) Air Traffic Control (ATC) provider NATS for significant delays at London Gatwick Airport (LGW), saying that the repeated delays are unique to the country and never present elsewhere in Europe. The low-cost carrier identified that staff shortages are primarily in charge for the present situation.
Calls to remove NATS’ CEO
Nevertheless, Ryanair has also called for Martin Rolfe, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NATS, to resign or for the UK government to remove him from his post. Ryanair’s CEO Michael O’Leary said that it was that travelers should face disruptions
O’Leary reiterated that these issues are unique to the UK, with no other ATC provider causing flight delays on account of staff shortages. the CEO added, noting that Rolfe should hand over his position and
Photo: katatonia82 | Shutterstock
In late September 2023, Ryanair also criticized NATS and Rolfe, requesting that the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) intervene and protect passengers flying from/to LGW. On the time, the airport requested that airlines would cancel flights between September 26 and October 2, 2023, on account of the identical staff shortages at NATS. a Ryanair spokesperson said on the time.
Once more, Ryanair called for Rolfe to either resign or to be relieved of his duties since he had taken no motion to resolve the problems on the time, which can be the to do, in keeping with the low-cost carrier. In response, NATS issued a press release, saying that staffing levels at LGW had fallen low on account of experienced by the service over the previous few weeks. As such, it was a responsible thing to chop flights on the airport to minimize the probabilities of flight disruptions.
Ryanair Refuses To Cancel Flights Despite London Gatwick ATC Shortage
ATC meltdown within the UK
After NATS’s system failure in August 2023, Ryanair disputed the service’s report. The airline identified that NATS had canceled 1,500 flights, while EUROCONTROL said that over 2,000 fewer flights operated over the UK, adding that while NATS claimed only 575 flights were delayed, Ryanair noted that over 1,000 of its flights alone were delayed. O’Leary simply stated that the report on the incident was
Photo: kamilpetran | Shutterstock
The system failure happened on August 28, 2023, when a flight plan was filed with two an identical waypoints that were outside of the UK’s airspace, with the flight going over the country while flying to its destination. The critical exception prompted NATS’ primary and backup systems to fail, leading to significant flight disruptions through the day.
NATS Reveals What Caused Last Week’s ATC Meltdown