Ryanair boss says Britain's air traffic control system is 'the worst in Europe'

Michael O'Leary said he will seek legal action over recent flight cancellations. Photo: EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/REUTERS

Ryanair boss A boss has said Britain's air traffic control system is by far the worst in Europe after travelers suffered a rise in flight cancellations this week due to staff illness.

Michael O'Leary criticized the UK's air traffic control network as «by far the least productive and the most ineffective».

The comments come after Gatwick Airport said on Monday it would be forced to limit the number of flights this week due to an outbreak of Covid-19 among air traffic control personnel. Nearly a third of staff are reported to have fallen ill, meaning about 165 scheduled flights to and from the airport will have to be canceled until Sunday.

Earlier this week, the National Air Traffic Service (Nats) said restricting flights was the “responsible step” to limit disruption to passengers, adding: “Our operational resilience at the tower will improve as our staff return to work and we emerge from a summer schedule which is particularly busy at Gatwick.

“We will continue to recruit and train air traffic controllers at Gatwick as quickly as possible to ensure we return to a fully sustainable operation as quickly as possible.”

A few weeks earlier, a technical glitch in the air traffic control system had caused travel chaos across the UK, causing hundreds of flights to be cancelled.

Nats said its automated air traffic control system was experiencing «one case out of 15 million.» This meant that the company was forced to manually process flights within six hours.

Mr O'Leary called for the Nats CEO to be fired after accusing him of a «fucking bad job». He suggested that Nats was not actually understaffed, but had hired controllers who «simply don't show up for work».

He said Martin Rolfe, who runs the body responsible for air traffic control at Gatwick, was «useless and incompetent» and «should be taken out and sacked», adding: «How he got away with it is a mystery to us.»

«He presided over a complete system failure at Gatwick on 28 and 29 August , but he continues to preside over staff shortages.”

Ryanair boss says he will try to take Nats to court to seek compensation for recent cancellations. The airline estimates it pays Nats almost €100m (£86.9m) a year.

Mr O'Leary added that the network is not as useful as previously said, airlines «don't need as much ATC anymore» and planes can instead «talk to each other.»

“Usually people at Gatwick Tower are just a nuisance.”

It comes amid a wave of criticism of the UK's air traffic control network, EasyJet said. it has faced more than 30 days of restrictions since May due to resource issues.

Johan Lundgren, chief executive of easyJet, recently said: “Gatwick Airport and the NSC now need to work on a long-term agreement . plan so that the sustainability of air traffic control at Gatwick is enhanced and fit for purpose.”