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UK Broadband

CAA launches independent review of NATS after September software failure

The Civil Aviation Authority has opened an independent review of NATS after the 8 September software failure that disrupted more than 2,000 flights, with a final report due by March 2027.

By Sarah Whitfield · · 1 min read

Britain’s aviation regulator has opened an independent review of air traffic control provider NATS after the software failure on 8 September that disrupted more than 2,000 flights and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers.

The Civil Aviation Authority announced the terms of reference on Friday at the request of Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, who said passengers and airlines had been “let down too many times” and that she expected “answers and action” from the review, Reuters reported.

It is the second time in three years the CAA has been forced to scrutinise a major NATS systems failure, after the 2023 outage. The 8 September failure, traced to a software defect in NATS’s flight processing system, left controllers with reduced information and forced restrictions that halted departures and diverted inbound aircraft before the system was fully reconciled that evening.

The review will examine NATS’s own report on the causes, assess the impact on consumers, and identify any additional actions needed. It will also scrutinise the company’s plans to renew, replace and modernise its critical operational systems, how well recommendations from previous reviews have been implemented, and lessons from international best practice.

A NATS spokesperson said the company welcomed the publication of the review’s scope and would cooperate fully.

Ryanair has repeatedly called for NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe to resign after the incident.

An initial report is due to the transport secretary by the end of January 2027, with the final report due by 8 March 2027.

Sources

More on this topic: all UK Broadband stories

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