UK’s air traffic control ‘fiasco’ to cost airline industry £100m, Willie Walsh says

The technical fault that plagued the UK’s air traffic control system in recent days has been described as “a fiasco” by industry leader Willie Walsh, who added it could cost the airline industry up to £100 million (€116 million).

The travel disruption has caused chaos at airports, chiefly in Britain and Ireland, with hundreds of flights cancelled and thousands of passengers left in limbo. “Clearly this is a fiasco and it should never have happened,” said Mr Walsh on Wednesday.

Mr Walsh, the former chief executive of Aer Lingus and British Airways, is now director general of the International Air Transport Association, which represents some 300 airlines or 83 per cent of total air traffic.

Britain’s National Air Traffic Services (Nats) chief executive Martin Rolfe said the failure was caused by flight data received by the group, which sent both its primary and backup systems down. He added that the problem had been fixed and would not be repeated.

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However, Mr Walsh said the failure of the backup system was “unacceptable” and that a thorough investigation was required to identify the cause of the chaos. “Based on what they’ve said so far, I don’t think we have the confidence to say it wouldn’t happen again,” he said.

“They really need to understand themselves what caused the problem and then explain it to everybody. But importantly, if what they’re saying so far is accurate, to seriously question the capability of the system should be a cause of concern for everybody.

“I would expect there to be a detailed investigation in the UK involving the government and the Civil Aviation Authority to establish what exactly went strong and to ensure that this does not happen again.”

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On the overall impact for airlines globally, which are still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions, Mr Walsh said the cost would run into nine figures. “You’re talking probably close to £100 million and it is very, very significant,” he said.

“What really frustrates airlines is that they’re not in a position to recoup any of this money. Airlines are left to pick up the pieces.”

Mr Walsh said it was not fair that airlines would have to compensate passengers for issues outside of their control. “When this passenger rights system was introduced back in 2004, it identified airlines as being the problem behind delays and cancellations, which isn’t accurate,” he said.

[ Irish flight disruption could last for days after 20 cancelled at Dublin Airport on Tuesday ]

“Since then, we’ve highlighted many times when problems have occurred that have been completely outside the control of airlines. Those responsible for the problem should bear the costs of it. In this case, the costs of the disruption should be borne by Nats and not borne by the airlines.”

Mr Walsh, who was speaking on RTÉ radio, added it would take days before air travel in and around Britain and Ireland returned to normal.

“We’ve estimated that about 1,100 flights were cancelled at the four major airports in the UK,” he said. “When you look at the disruption at this time of the year when airlines are operating effectively a full schedule, it will take time to get things back to normal.

“I would hope that things will be back to normal by the weekend but it’s it is a major headache for all airlines and will take some time to resolve and a working one.”