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BusinessQuiet 4d · day 5

UK air traffic control suffers second major outage in two weeks

Nats faces mounting pressure after a Prestwick centre failure disrupts 150 flights, following a Swanwick incident that cancelled 2,000 flights.

newest coverage 4d agosummary written 3d ago7 pieces7 likes & upvotes1 comments NewswiresMastodonGoogle News

What to know

  • Nats suffered a second major outage in two weeks: a Prestwick connectivity failure on 16 September cancelled 150 flights, nine days after a Swanwick software flaw cancelled 2,000.
  • Airlines including Jet2, EasyJet, and Ryanair are demanding action, with Ryanair calling for Nats CEO Martin Rolfe to resign; behind the scenes, airlines are described as 'furious' at repeated disruption and refunding costs.
  • The core question is whether these are isolated technical incidents or signs of systemic infrastructure problems—with concerns that Nats lacks adequate resources to ensure resilience in handling up to 8,000 daily flights across Europe's busiest airspace.

“calls into question the resilience of Nats' systems and demonstrates the need for firm actions to prevent these repeated failures.”

EasyJet, Airline operator · BBC News ↗ · Sep 20

Martin Rolfe Nats CEOSteve Heapy Jet2 CEOHeidi AlexanderHeidi Alexander Transport SecretaryRyanair Airline operatorEasyJet Airline operatorNats UK air traffic services provider

UK air traffic control suffers second major outage in two weeks
bbc.co.uk

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 4 pieces in two hours at Sep 21, 11 AM; 7 pieces over 5 days (5 articles · 2 posts) Sep 21, 7 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Google News 1Sep 21, 9 AM — quietSep 21, 11 AM — 4 pieces · 3 articles · 1 post — Newswires 3, Mastodon 1Sep 21, 1 PM — quietSep 21, 3 PM — quietSep 21, 5 PM — quietSep 21, 7 PM — quietSep 21, 9 PM — quietSep 21, 11 PM — quietSep 22, 1 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Sep 22, 3 AM — quietSep 22, 5 AM — quietSep 22, 7 AM — quietSep 22, 9 AM — quietSep 22, 11 AM — 1 piece · 1 article — Mastodon 1Sep 22, 1 PM — quietSep 22, 3 PM — quietSep 22, 5 PM — quietSep 22, 7 PM — quietSep 22, 9 PM — quietSep 22, 11 PM — quietSep 23, 1 AM — quietSep 23, 3 AM — quietSep 23, 5 AM — quietSep 23, 7 AM — quietSep 23, 9 AM — quietSep 23, 11 AM — quietSep 23, 1 PM — quietSep 23, 3 PM — quietSep 23, 5 PM — quietSep 23, 7 PM — quietSep 23, 9 PM — quietSep 23, 11 PM — quietSep 24, 1 AM — quietSep 24, 3 AM — quietSep 24, 5 AM — quietSep 24, 7 AM — quietSep 24, 9 AM — quietSep 24, 11 AM — quietSep 24, 1 PM — quietSep 24, 3 PM — quietSep 24, 5 PM — quietSep 24, 7 PM — quietSep 24, 9 PM — quietSep 24, 11 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 3 AM — quietYesterday, 5 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 9 AM — quietYesterday, 11 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 3 PM — quietYesterday, 5 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 9 PM — quietYesterday, 11 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 3 AM — quietToday, 5 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 9 AM — quietToday, 11 AM — quietToday, 1 PM — quiet 1–2
Sep 22Sep 23Sep 24yesterdaynow · 2:27 PM ET
  1. 1

    BBC assesses whether failures reflect systemic infrastructure problems

    Coverage questions whether the repeated incidents are isolated and unavoidable, or point to something more systemic. Concerns focus on whether Nats has adequate resources to ensure the air traffic control system has sufficient resilience to handle some of Europe's busiest airspace, including approaches to Heathrow and Gatwick, which handles up to 8,000 flights a day.

    “It is simply not good enough for this critical national infrastructure to keep letting customers down.”
    — Steve Heapy, Jet2 CEO · source
    1. 2 outlets Repeated air traffic control failures leave us in worrying territory

      first by Mastodon, 4d ago · also BBC

    • fulelo@journa.host

      # BBCNews - Repeated air traffic control failures leave us in worrying territory https://www. bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmde0p p22r5go

      fulelo@journa.hostMastodon4d agoview on Mastodon ↗
  2. 2

    Airlines demand action; Ryanair calls for CEO resignation

    Jet2 CEO Steve Heapy called the failures "simply not good enough for this critical national infrastructure." EasyJet said the incidents call into question Nats' system resilience. Behind the scenes, airlines are described as "furious" and bearing refunding costs. Ryanair has repeatedly called for Nats CEO Martin Rolfe to resign, or for Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander to remove him.

  3. background

    Prestwick centre connectivity failure cancels 150 flights — A connectivity issue specific to the system used in Scotland at the Prestwick centre, which manages air traffic in Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland, led to about 150 flight cancellations and many other delays affecting tens of thousands of travellers. Nats said this failure was unrelated to the Swanwick incident.

  4. background

    Software flaw at Swanwick causes 2,000-flight cancellation cascade — A previously undetected software flaw at Nats' main Swanwick control centre, triggered by a specific set of circumstances, caused over 2,000 flight cancellations over two days, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers. Some were left sleeping on airport floors and others stranded in foreign airports.

  5. background

    Radar-related issue disrupts air traffic for four hours — A smaller radar-related issue disrupted air traffic for four hours and led to the cancellation of 150 flights.

  6. background

    Flight plan error crashes Swanwick system, affects 700,000 passengers — A problem with a single aircraft's flight plan caused a key system at the Swanwick main control centre to fail on a bank holiday weekend, leading to widespread cancellations and delays.