NATS chiefs quizzed on August Bank Holiday air traffic control failure that impacted 250,000 passengers
The Transport Committee will question leaders of NATS (National Air Traffic Services) on lessons it has learnt from the August Bank Holiday air traffic control incident that affected around 250,000 customers over three days.
Meeting details
The incident arose when NATS’ software was unable to extract the UK portion of a single flight plan, and so automatically suspended all flight processing for six hours.
MPs will ask about the recent CAA-commissioned interim report into the incident, including about actions NATS has taken to prevent this type of incident reoccurring and to improve resilience for the busy summer travel season. Among the report’s recommendations were for NATS to appoint a ‘single post holder’ with clearly defined responsibility for managing major incidents.
There will be questions about whether NATS will review its policies on engineers working on site and/or at home.
MPs will also ask about feedback given from airlines and airports that NATS did not communicate effectively during and after the August incident.
In addition to this session, the Transport Committee will also hold an evidence session next week on Wednesday 24 April for its new inquiry into the draft Rail Reform Bill. A further press release will be distributed on Monday.