British air boss faces calls to quit after travel chaos leaves holidaymakers stranded and 2,000 flights cancelled
BRITAIN’S air traffic control boss faced calls to quit yesterday over the fiasco that has left thousands stranded at airports globally.
Chief executive Martin Rolfe has apologised to passengers after a technical glitch forced the cancellation of 2,000 flights.
But that did not fly with angry and exhausted travellers who are still stuck abroad — or with the airlines now facing massive losses.
Former British Airways boss Willie Walsh reckons airlines will lose £100million and called for National Air Traffic Services to be fined.
Others demanded that NATS boss Mr Rolfe, 51, who has seen his pay double this year to £1.3million, carry the can personally.
Construction worker Blake Pammenter, 29, stuck in Turkey for ten days with his family, said: “He needs to go — 100 per cent. This whole thing is a disaster.”
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Others echoed those calls on social media. One critic said: “Monumental incompetence. He needs to resign.”
There were also calls for Mr Rolfe to be stripped of his bonuses.
Holidaymakers left out of pocket were urged to take a class action for compensation against NATS, whose ageing IT systems are thought to have crashed when a French budget airline filed flight plans incorrectly.
Mr Walsh, director general of airlines trade body the International Air Transport Association, said NATS had a “lot of questions to answer”.
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Scores more arrivals and departures were cancelled at UK airports yesterday, bringing the total since the air traffic system went down on Monday to 2,000.
Mr Rolfe said the chaos was triggered when NATS received an “unusual piece of data” it could not process — prompting it to revert to a manual system, causing huge delays.
He apologised to travellers and said he was confident the situation would not arise in the same way again.
But that was little comfort to those still stuck at airports or in emergency hotels.
Blake, 29, his partner Lucia Simms, 27, and their daughter Rosanna, four, are in Turkey after their easyJet flight to Gatwick was cancelled after a 12-night holiday.
Self-employed Blake, of Cambridge, said: “We are booked on a flight next Thursday, ten days after we were due home.
“If I don’t work, I don’t get paid and that’s a lot of lost wages.
“And our daughter’s first ever day at school is Monday, which we are all going to miss.
“The easyJet app said our flight was delayed by seven hours, then it said five minutes, and when we got to the airport it was cancelled.
“People need to get together to sue for compensation because we will all end up out of pocket.
"We’ve been put up in a hotel, but who pays for that? We’ve no idea because easyJet haven’t told us. All we get are emails saying, ‘We are working on it, don’t contact us’.”
EasyJet, which has launched repatriation flights, said: “We’re really sorry to hear that these customers’ flights home have been cancelled.
"We’re working round the clock to support our customers.”
Teaching assistant Scarlett Wilson, 23, stranded in Gran Canaria with partner Grant Whitmill, 27, said: “A week in the sun has turned into a holiday from hell.
"I’ve just sat and cried on the phone to my mum.
“We were supposed to be moving into our new house tomorrow. We’ve got carpets getting laid down and everything.”
They have paid £900 for a flight home tonight.
Team GB javelin great Steve Backley, 54, documented his nightmare journey home from commentating on the World Athletics Championships in Budapest with a series of social media videos.
He travelled by train after being told he faced a two-day delay to fly back when his flight was cancelled — six hours after he boarded.
He finally made it to London yesterday and said: “I’m back!! Total travel time was eventually 54 hours and 22 minutes.”
Sales exec Tom Perry, 31, of Cornwall, reckons he and his wife are about £2,200 out of pocket after their flight from Crete to Luton was axed.
They have shelled out to fly home on Friday on a different airline with no indication if they will be reimbursed.
He said: “The communication was very, very poor.”
Consumer champions asked whether airlines are doing enough.
Rory Boland, editor of magazine Which? Travel, said: “Travellers should be aware that their airline has a responsibility to re-route them as soon as possible, even if that means buying them a ticket with a rival carrier — a rule some appear to be ignoring.”
COUGH UP CALL
FORMER British Airways boss Willie Walsh has called for NATS to cough up £100million in compensation.
He reckons that is how much airlines will have to pay out over this week’s IT system meltdown.
Mr Walsh, 61, chief executive of BA for 15 years until 2020, said: “They should be held to account and they should pay for the expenses that have occurred.
“It’s a shocking performance from NATS, it has led to massive disruption and clearly it’s unacceptable.”
Mr Walsh, now head of the International Air Transport Association, which represents more than 300 of the world’s carriers, added: “I find it staggering, I really do.
“This system should be designed to reject data that is incorrect, not to collapse the system.”
Rob Bishton, of the Civil Aviation Authority, confirmed that airlines “have a responsibility to look after” passengers waiting to come home.
He said this includes providing people with meals, refreshments and hotel accommodation and added: “If airlines cannot do this, you can organise your own, then claim costs back.”
PM Rishi Sunak said the Government is working hard to support passengers.
He said: “I know how frustrating the situation is for families. It is important that airlines honour their obligations to passengers with regards to accommodation and flights to bring them back home.
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“The Transport Secretary has been extensively engaged with the industry to make sure they do honour their obligations and support passengers.”
Transport Secretary Mark Harper added: “The knock-on effects of Monday’s disruption are likely to continue over the coming days.”
