The UK government opposed an amendment that would have forced air traffic control provider NATS to reimburse airlines for passenger compensation following its failures, only weeks before a major system outage this week led to roughly 2,000 flight cancellations and disrupted around 330,000 passengers. The revelation, raised by Liberal Democrat MP Luke Taylor in a Commons debate, has intensified scrutiny of NATS, which is 49% government-owned and has suffered three significant technical failures in three years. Ryanair and Wizz Air have both hit out at the provider, with Ryanair demanding the resignation of NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe.

The rejected amendment, tabled by Lord Young of Cookham during the passage of the Civil Aviation (Consumer Protection and Regulatory Reform) Bill, was withdrawn after ministers objected, despite having previously said they placed "considerable pressure" on NATS following earlier failures dating back to August 2023. The Civil Aviation Authority has told passengers they are unlikely to be entitled to compensation because the outage is likely to be classed as "extraordinary circumstances". Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has ordered an independent CAA review to report within six months, with NATS required to give an initial account of the failure within a week, while NATS has apologised and says its systems are now stable.