Ryanair CEO Accuses NATS of Lying About Air Traffic Control Outage Cause
Controversy Surrounding Air Traffic Control Outage
Allegations from Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary
DUBLIN, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Ryanair Chief Executive Michael O'Leary on Thursday accused the head of Britain's air traffic control operator of lying about the cause of an outage that led to thousands of flight cancellations earlier this week.
O'Leary said Ryanair had been told by NATS that the outage was caused by a rogue flight plan, the same problem that caused a major disruption in 2023.
NATS CEO Martin Rolfe's Response
Speaking on BBC Radio on Wednesday, NATS CEO Martin Rolfe said he believed the latest outage had been caused by "something different" from previous incidents.
O'Leary's Rejection of NATS Explanation
O'Leary, who has repeatedly called for Rolfe to resign, rejected that explanation.
"NATS have told us it was another rogue flight plan. Now Martin Rolfe is out denying it yesterday," O'Leary said. "I believe he's telling lies to save his own skin."
Background on Previous Outages
2023 Air Traffic Control Disruption
A NATS investigation into the 2023 outage found it was caused by a "one in 15 million" event in which a flight plan contained two identically named but separate waypoints, forcing both the system and its back-up into a "fail-safe" mode.
Current Investigation and Legal Actions
Responding to a similar statement from O'Leary on Wednesday, NATS said the latest outage had been caused by a different issue. It did not immediately respond to a request for comment on O'Leary's latest remarks.
Ryanair is suing NATS in London's High Court for more than £7 million ($9.5 million) over the 2023 outage and has called on the operator to reinvest profits in performance improvements and staffing.
Government and Regulatory Response
Official Investigations
The government has given Rolfe a week to investigate the cause of the latest systems failure.
Transport Minister's Statement
Independent Review Request
Transport minister Heidi Alexander, who summoned Rolfe for a meeting over the incident, said on Wednesday she believed the outage was avoidable and asked the Civil Aviation Authority to conduct an independent review.
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(Reporting by Conor Humphries. Writing by William James. Editing by Sam Tabahriti and Mark Potter)
