Ryanair Demands NATS Chief Resign After Second Air Traffic Control Failure in Two Weeks

Ryanair has demanded the resignation of NATS Chief Executive Martin Rolfe following a second major computer failure at the UK's air traffic control operator in less than two weeks, with the airline's Chief Operating Officer declaring "enough is enough."

The latest technical breakdown struck NATS's Prestwick centre in Scotland early Monday, September 21, affecting the operator's Flight Data Processing System. Controllers were forced to reduce the number of aircraft entering the airspace to maintain safety while engineers investigated. NATS said the issue has since been fixed and that it is working with airlines and airports to restore normal operations. The incident marks the second serious disruption to hit NATS within a fortnight, following an earlier failure at its Swanwick control centre on September 8.

Ryanair's COO Calls for Resignation

Ryanair Chief Operating Officer Neal McMahon issued a pointed statement following the outage: 

Just three days after NATS assured airlines and passengers that it had introduced a robust 'mitigation plan,' its flight data processing system has failed again. More than 25,000 Ryanair passengers have already suffered disruption, with over 140 Ryanair flights delayed, yet NATS still cannot tell passengers when this disruption will end. Enough is enough. Martin Rolfe should resign today. If he will not, then Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander should fire him and appoint somebody capable of delivering the resilient ATC service that UK passengers and airlines deserve.

The timing made the failure particularly damaging to NATS's credibility: the operator had reassured the industry only days earlier that new mitigation measures were in place following the September 8 incident.

Airlines Demand Answers

Airline executives have grown increasingly vocal about what they describe as a pattern of failures at NATS. Tim Alderslade, chief executive of Airlines UK, which represents carriers including British Airways, easyJet, Virgin Atlantic, and Jet2, has previously criticized the operator over repeated disruptions, and industry sources have echoed the sentiment that failures of this frequency are unacceptable given the scale of investment expected from a modern air navigation service provider.

Airlines have long argued that they should receive compensation when NATS fails, pointing out that they are required to compensate passengers for delays and cancellations regardless of the cause. The financial burden of a single major disruption can run into the millions for larger carriers.

Two Failures in Quick Succession

Monday's breakdown came less than two weeks after the September 8 incident at NATS's Swanwick centre, which also disrupted operations at Heathrow, Gatwick, and other major airports. The proximity of the two events has intensified scrutiny of NATS and prompted questions about whether underlying issues from the first failure were adequately addressed before the second occurred.

NATS handles millions of flights each year across UK airspace, coordinating traffic in one of the most congested aviation regions globally. Any interruption to its systems creates ripple effects that can persist for days, as airlines work to reposition aircraft and crews.

The operator has faced significant criticism in recent years, including after a major failure in August 2023 that caused widespread chaos during one of the busiest travel weekends of the year. That incident, traced to a rare flight-plan processing error NATS described as a "one in 15 million" occurrence, resulted in hundreds of thousands of disrupted journeys and prompted a regulatory review. Ryanair called for Rolfe's resignation following that incident as well, and again after a separate radar-related failure at Swanwick in July 2025 that led to more than 150 flight cancellations.

Passengers Left Stranded

Travelers caught up in Monday's disruption faced familiar scenes at airports across the UK, including Belfast International and Glasgow, with departure boards showing delays and cancellations. According to aviation analytics firm Cirium, the impact was described as manageable in the early hours of the disruption but was expected to worsen as the day went on.

Regulatory Scrutiny Expected

The Civil Aviation Authority is expected to examine the circumstances of the latest failure. NATS is expected to release a further explanation of what caused Monday's outage. The operator has typically pointed to complex technical faults as the source of past failures, though critics, led vocally by Ryanair, say such explanations do little to reassure an industry that depends on consistent performance.

For airlines and passengers, the frustration is clear. With the busy autumn travel season underway and holiday bookings on the horizon, the pressure on NATS and Rolfe to restore confidence in the system has rarely been more intense.