Key facts
- Rolfe said Nats expected about 8,000 flights on September 8 and 6,000 flew, without addressing delays.
- Airlines said the September 8 outage alone cost them tens of millions of pounds, according to Rolfe's account of their position.
- Rolfe said the causes of both September events were unprecedented but had been fixed.
- Rolfe said the particular September faults will never recur but no one can promise a complex system will never fault again.
- The Civil Aviation Authority is reviewing Nats's early report and will report to transport secretary Heidi Alexander early in 2027.
- Alexander said she would not jump the gun before the CAA findings but would do whatever it takes to ensure lessons are learned.
Martin Rolfe, chief executive of Nats, told the Airlines 2026 conference in London on November 11 that he had not considered resigning after two air traffic control failures in September, and said he was "quite enjoying" ignoring calls from Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary to quit.
Rolfe described himself to the conference as "the most disliked person in the UK in September." Airlines led by Ryanair had called for his resignation after the two technical failures in a fortnight at the two control centres run by Nats stopped flights taking off and landing.
Rolfe said Nats had expected to handle about 8,000 flights on September 8 and 6,000 had flown, although he did not address the long delays many of those flights experienced. Airlines have said the outage that day alone cost them tens of millions of pounds; the disruption stemmed from an issue in Nats's flight control systems and is the subject of a government-commissioned inquiry.
A further glitch at Nats's second control centre at Prestwick in Scotland on September 21 led to more than 200 flight cancellations. Rolfe said the causes of both events were unprecedented but had been fixed, though he could not promise no more outages would occur.
He said he understood the disruption for people planning holidays and travel, adding: "If I am the cause of that disruption, I would expect to come in for a lot of flak." He said the particular faults experienced in September "will never recur," but added: "Nobody standing on a stage like this can credibly promise that a complex technical system will never experience another fault."
According to Nats's early report, the software problem in September was not immediately believed to be serious. The Civil Aviation Authority is reviewing the findings and will report to transport secretary Heidi Alexander early in 2027. Alexander told the conference: "Like you, I expect that system to be resilient. And like you, I was angry when it fell short." She said she would not "jump the gun" before the CAA findings but would do whatever it takes to ensure lessons are learned. Ryanair was approached for comment.