Martin Rolfe, chief executive of National Air Traffic Services (NATS), is facing calls to resign after a "technical issue" with the organisation's flight processing system caused widespread chaos across UK airports this week. The failure, which led to nearly 2,000 flight cancellations and stranded around a quarter of a million passengers, marks the third major NATS meltdown under Rolfe's leadership since he took charge in 2015, prompting airline bosses to accuse him of failing to learn from repeated failures.

Rolfe earned £1.418 million in pay and bonuses last year, roughly ten times the Prime Minister's salary, and £6.187 million over the past five years, far exceeding his Dutch counterpart's €262,000. Critics point to comparatively poor UK performance, with 2,770 flight delays in the first half of 2025 versus 284 in the Netherlands, while previous NATS failures included a July 2024 crash cancelling 150 flights and an August 2023 outage that closed British airspace, affecting 700,000 passengers and costing the industry at least £65 million. Wizz Air's Yvonne Moynihan called for Rolfe to step down, and Ryanair's Neal McMahon accused NATS of underinvesting while paying large bonuses and dividends; Rolfe has acknowledged public frustration and met Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who says he retains the Government's confidence.