{"id":62217,"date":"2024-04-22T21:06:46","date_gmt":"2024-04-22T15:36:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/?p=62217"},"modified":"2024-10-04T00:11:48","modified_gmt":"2024-10-03T18:41:48","slug":"ryanair-suing-uk-atc-nats-amid-flight-disruptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aviationa2z.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/22\/ryanair-suing-uk-atc-nats-amid-flight-disruptions\/","title":{"rendered":"Ryanair Suing UK ATC NATS Amid Flight Disruptions Affecting 700,000 Passengers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

DUBLIN-<\/strong> The Irish Independent has learned that Ryanair (FR) <\/a>is suing the UK\u2019s air traffic control operator NATS over a computer meltdown last year, causing flight chaos and leaving thousands of passengers stranded abroad for days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legal action against NATS (En Route) Plc has been filed by Ryanair, led by group chief executive Michael O\u2019Leary. Ryanair\u2019s Irish and UK divisions have taken the lawsuit to the UK\u2019s High Court. The case in the UK’s Commercial Court is being pursued in relation to \u201cgeneral commercial contracts and arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ryanair
Photo: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 – Free photo on Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ryanair Suing UK ATC<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Last year, on August 28, the NATS flight planning system crashed, causing flight cancellations and disrupting more than 700,000 passengers. An interim report published last month found that the malfunction resulted in \u201cconsiderable financial and emotional consequences\u201d for affected passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryanair called for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign last month and insisted that NATS should reimburse airlines and passengers for the costs they incurred due to the system collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Airlines intending to operate flights through controlled airspace are required to file a flight plan containing information such as aircraft type, speed, and routing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year\u2019s NATS failure occurred when a system that processes flight plans was unable to properly process data for a specific flight from Los Angeles to Paris Orly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The flight data processing led to errors being generated in the system, causing the software to put the system into maintenance mode to prevent transferring what it believed was corrupt flight data to air traffic controllers. At that point, further automated processing of flight plan data was impossible and had to be done manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ryanair
Photo: PixaBay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

350+ Flights Affected<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The malfunction disrupted flight schedules. Ryanair was forced to cancel 350 flights between August 28 and 29, inconveniencing 63,000 of its passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NATS is a public-private partnership, with both British Airways and EasyJet having a stake in the venture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EasyJet (U2)<\/a> had to cancel 511 flights on Monday, August 28, a bank holiday in the UK, which accounted for 27% of its scheduled flights that day. The following day, it had to cancel 88 flights. The NATS meltdown resulted in EasyJet incurring almost 65,000 minutes of delays, affecting 110,000 of its customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sophie Dekkers, the chief commercial officer of EasyJet, informed the UK\u2019s Transport Select Committee that the airline was \u201cdeeply concerned about the complete lack of communication between NATS and the airlines in those critical hours after the incident occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A total of more than 100 flights in and out of Ireland were canceled due to the problem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photo: By Steve Knight – https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/kitmasterbloke\/51341704771\/, CC BY 2.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=113415745<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Paying \u00a3100m in ATC Fees<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An interim independent review of the system failure published last month pointed out delays in engineers addressing the issue, as they were on standby at home due to the bank holiday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A reset of the failed system had to be done on-site. It took an engineer 90 minutes to arrive there, having exhausted other remediation attempts remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. O\u2019Leary stated last month that Ryanair pays more than \u00a3100m (\u20ac116m)<\/strong> a year in air traffic control fees in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are entitled to expect an efficient, well-run service, rather than [the] mismanagement and incompetence we suffered on August 28, 2023, due to the NATS system collapse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stay tuned with us. Further, follow us on social media for the latest updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join us on Telegram Group <\/a>for the Latest Aviation Updates. Subsequently, follow us on Google News<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ryanair will Eliminate the Paper Boarding Pass in Coming Months<\/a><\/blockquote>