Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jump to content
Independent

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in

Swipe for next article

Independent Bulletin homepage

Download our
Social Partner

We are 8 logo (opens in a new tab)We are 8 logoWe are 8 logo
  1. All
  2. News
  3. Sport
  4. Culture
  5. Lifestyle

Calls for air control boss to resign after airports chaos

Planes are parked at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025
Planes are parked at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport in London, Friday, March 21, 2025 (Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
  • A 20-minute technical glitch at the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, caused widespread flight cancellations and diversions across Europe on Wednesday, affecting tens of thousands of summer holidaymakers.
  • Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander held an urgent meeting with NATS boss Martin Rolfe, stating the incident was an "isolated event" with "no evidence of malign activity" after the talks.
  • Ryanair immediately called for Martin Rolfe's resignation, citing his "continued mismanagement" and linking the failure to a previous system outage in August 2023, with EasyJet also expressing disappointment.
  • The disruption affected major UK airports including Heathrow and Gatwick, with Ryanair highlighting Rolfe's £1.5m pay from NATS, which is 49 per cent government-owned.
  • While government sources indicated Rolfe would not be asked to resign, the Liberal Democrats called for an urgent investigation into NATS to ensure the system's fitness for purpose.
In full

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in