Air traffic control boss says he was ‘most disliked person in the UK’ after flight chaos

Martin Rolfe, the chief executive of National Air Traffic Control Services (Nats), has claimed he was "the most disliked person in the UK in September" following severe air traffic control system failures that disrupted flights for hundreds of thousands of passengers. Rolfe stated this candidly during an aviation industry conference, a title airlines, particularly Ryanair led by its CEO Michael O'Leary, had repeatedly demanded he resign over.

The chaos was triggered by technical failures in Nats's control centers on September 8 and 21. The first incident alone forced 6,000 out of the planned 8,000 flights from taking off or landing, with airlines estimating the financial cost to be tens of millions of pounds. Rolfe admitted during the conference that he had indeed been unpopular due to the disruption, stating he understood people's anger and frustration regarding their holiday plans and travel.

Despite the calls for his resignation, Rolfe confirmed he had not considered quitting, pointing out that O'Leary had made similar demands for several years. He expressed amusement at not being expected to resign, adding that he enjoyed maintaining the level of personal responsibility and accountability associated with his position.

Rolfe highlighted that the specific faults causing the September failures were unprecedented and had been rectified, but cautioned against guaranteeing that such issues would never reoccur in complex technical systems.

Furthermore, Rolfe revealed that the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), currently reviewing the incident, would report its findings to the transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, in early 2027. Alexander had previously expressed her anger towards the system's failure during the conference, insisting that the situation was "simply unacceptable," underlining that Rolfe must ensure such events are thoroughly learned from.