Air traffic chief faces calls to resign after UK flight chaos

WorldBusiness & Finance
10 Sep 2026 • 6:38 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Air traffic chief faces calls to resign after UK flight chaos

  • Flight disruption across the UK has begun to ease after technical issues at National Air Traffic Services (Nats) led to more than 2,000 flight cancellations and delays since Tuesday, with schedules expected to return to normal later on Thursday.
  • Martin Rolfe, chief executive of Nats, is facing calls to resign from industry figures including Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary, though Downing Street has stated the Government still has confidence in him as he accepted full responsibility.
  • Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander apologised to passengers and ruled out a cyber attack, stating she does not believe the outage was unavoidable, and has directed the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to launch an independent review due in six months.
  • British Airways was the hardest-hit airline and London Heathrow the worst-affected airport, with BA expressing frustration over recurring technical failures and demanding urgent action to bolster resilience in the aviation sector.
  • The CAA advised that disrupted passengers are unlikely to be entitled to compensation because the system failure is classed as an extraordinary circumstance, although airlines remain obligated to provide care and support.

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