Ryanair Holdings PLC (LSE:RYA) boss Michael O’Leary has renewed calls for Martin Rolfe, chief executive of air traffic controller Nats, to step down after another bout of chaos at Gatwick.
Shortages of Nats staff in the control tower saw at least 100 flights to and from Gatwick Airport cancelled on Sunday, affecting around 15,000 passengers.
O’Leary subsequently dubbed the incident “the latest in a long line of cock-ups” by the air traffic controller, which also saw easyJet PLC, Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ) and International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (LSE:IAG)-owned British Airways flights affected.
“Ryanair again calls on UK Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe to step down and allow someone competent to run an efficient [...] service, which airlines and passengers are entitled to expect,” O’Leary added.
The latest call adds to growing pressure on Rolfe after a string of Nats staffing issues have hit Gatwick flights.
Nats has previously stated it was “working in line” with a staffing plan agreed alongside Gatwick after the firm took over air traffic operations at the airport in 2022.
The latest incident follows widespread chaos over last year’s August bank holiday weekend, which prompted thousands of flights to be cancelled.
A technical fault had seen Nats’ system temporarily shut down leaving air traffic controllers forced manually to input flight data during the incident.