10,000 passengers were hit by NATS failure
Air traffic control company NATS has agreed to compensate airlines for last week’s flight disruption through a rebate on charges.
It says the amount is being calculated and will be notified to customers in due course.
The promise comes as NATS chief executive Richard Deakin told MPs around 10,000 passengers were affected when air space was closed last Friday due to a technical problem at its Swanwick control centre.
He said as many as 120 flights were cancelled and another 500 flights were delayed by an average of 45 minutes.
Appearing before the House of Commons Transport Committee, Deakin apologised for the computer glitch but claimed contingency plans worked well.
He said the situation was ‘unacceptable’ for passengers and for NATS.
But he denied any suggestion that NATS systems were ‘ancient or antiquated’.
"Just because technology is ‘old’, it does not necessarily mean that it is not fit for purpose," he told MPs.
NATS is a public private partnership between NATS staff who hold 5%, UK airport operator LHR Airports Limited with 4%, the government which holds 49%, and a golden share, and the Airline Group, which holds 42% and includes British Airways, Virgin Atlantic and easyJet.
An independent inquiry is being carried out into the incident and a report is expected by the end of March.
The news that airlines would be compensated has been greeted with caution by some in the industry.
Saga Travel’s Louis Myers said: "This is a very welcome move, but actually, it is not just the airlines who have suffered inconvenience. Travellers had to face delays and cancellations over the weekend and they are the people who should receive some form of compensation. It will be interesting to see whether any of the airlines will offer compensation to any customers in view of the rebates they will receive from NATS."
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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