Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said on Wednesday 23 September that she will meet the chairman of National Air Traffic Services (NATS) "in the coming weeks", as pressure builds on the organisation's chief executive, Martin Rolfe, to resign after two separate air traffic control failures disrupted UK airspace, including Heathrow, within the space of a fortnight.
The most serious incident, on 8 September, was caused by a software defect in NATS's flight data processing system and forced more than 2,000 flight cancellations nationwide, with Heathrow among the hardest-hit hubs alongside Gatwick, Manchester and Stansted. A second, unrelated fault, a "connectivity issue" at NATS's Prestwick centre on Monday 21 September, cancelled more than 170 further flights across the country.
Speaking to the Times, Alexander said she had held a "full and frank conversation" with Rolfe and told him directly of her "anger at the situation". She said: "The scale of the disruption that we experienced yesterday was bad enough and to see the impact at Prestwick yesterday was obviously very concerning to me. For people using our airports they would feel it adds injury to insult." She confirmed she would meet Sir Warren East, the NATS chairman and former Rolls-Royce chief executive, to discuss the organisation's leadership.
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary repeated his call for Rolfe's resignation at a London press conference on Wednesday, saying a teenager "would be more competent or would deliver more effective service". In a statement on its corporate website, Ryanair described Rolfe as an "incompetent, overpaid CEO" and pointed to "four system collapses in the last four years" on his watch, including the 8 September failure it said cost the airline between four and five million euros.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the issues "need to be fully investigated" when asked why Rolfe had not been dismissed, adding that responsibility for now sat with the transport secretary. NATS has apologised for both incidents and said they were unrelated to each other. The government holds a 49 per cent stake in the public-private company.
Rolfe has not resigned and has pointed to ongoing investment in modernising the UK's air traffic infrastructure. No date has been confirmed for the meeting between Alexander and NATS's board chair.
What this means for your journey: with NATS's leadership under continued scrutiny and further disruption possible, check your flight status before setting off for Heathrow and build in extra time. A taxi can be more flexible than a pre-booked parking slot if your flight time shifts, see our guide at /taxis/ for options.