Thu, 31 Jul 2025

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 Why did the air traffic control outage cause so much havoc?

Details are emerging about how a 20-minute outage caused airport chaos on Wednesday.
A brief outage in the UK's air traffic control system, lasting just 20 minutes, caused widespread disruption at airports on Wednesday and continued into Thursday, with 150 flights cancelled or delayed. The issue was caused by a "radar-related problem" at NATS' national air traffic control centre in Swanwick, which is responsible for managing all of the UK's airspace. NATS said the problem was resolved by switching to a backup system, but airline executives have criticized the company for its performance and are calling for greater investment in air traffic management. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has assured that there is no evidence of a cyber attack and that NATS is conducting an internal investigation into the incident. However, critics argue that NATS has failed to learn from previous incidents, including one in August 2023 when over 700,000 passengers were affected by flight cancellations. Graham Lake, a former director general of CANSO, compared the air traffic control system to a national infrastructure, saying that even brief technical failures can cause significant disruptions. Airlines have called for greater transparency and investment in air traffic management, with some criticizing NATS' CEO Martin Rolfe for not resigning after the incident. Experts argue that such incidents are preventable with adequate backup systems and more efficient communication between airlines and air traffic controllers. The UK government has said it backs expansion plans for Heathrow and other airports to increase capacity, but critics argue that these plans would lead to increased emissions and pollution. Airlines have been urging passengers to check flight information, as some travelers were left stranded abroad due to the disruption.
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