Ryanair has called for the immediate dismissal of Martin Rolfe, CEO of the UK's National Air Traffic Services (NATS). This demand follows a significant air traffic control system failure on September 8, 2026.
The outage delayed more than 65,000 Ryanair passengers. The airline also canceled over 50 flights as a direct result of the disruption.
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary labeled the recurring outages untenable. He accused NATS of failing to invest in resilient primary systems and effective backups.
This incident marks the fourth major NATS system failure recorded in 2026. The disruption reportedly involved the same flight plan processing error that caused a major outage in August 2023.
Ryanair urged the UK Transport Minister to intervene and replace Rolfe. The airline stated this action is necessary to prevent further costly disruptions for carriers and passengers.