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Martin Rolfe apologizes for technical outage causing widespread flight cancellations across UK airports

A technical problem in the UK's flight processing system caused widespread flight cancellations and delays across 15 airports, including Heathrow, Gatwick, and Stansted. The outage, which was resolved on Tuesday afternoon, left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded. NATS, the air traffic control provider, reported that more than 1,750 flights were canceled. While the original issue was fixed, airlines and airports are working to clear a backlog of flights and reposition aircraft. Airlines have warned of continued knock-on disruption, and passengers have been advised to check flight statuses before traveling. Martin Rolfe, the head of NATS, apologized for the disruption and met with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander. The administration asked for a full investigation into the incident. While some airlines, such as Ryanair, called for Rolfe to resign, the government confirmed he retains their confidence. Rolfe defended the system, stating it remains one of the safest and most efficient in the world.

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