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Software glitch leaves UK flights high and dry

By Sarah Left

Published: Tuesday 20 June 2000

The UK National Air Traffic Service (NATS) is still investigating the cause of the systems failure which left thousands of passengers stranded over the weekend.

The flight data processing system went down at 09:30 (BST) on Saturday and remained down for the next three and a quarter hours. The system produces strips of paper that contain vital information about the origin and destination of each aircraft. In the absence of the computer, air traffic controllers produce the information manually.

According to a spokeswoman for NATS, the pen-and-paper method is just as accurate, but much slower. She stressed that NATS lost only an element of the air traffic control system, and that all radar and radio communication systems were unaffected.

Airlines who had to cancel and delay flights will now be going over legal agreements in fine detail, trying to claw back some of the millions of pounds they've lost. EasyJet - which cancelled all flights on Saturday - estimated its loss at half a million pounds.

NATS pointed out that it has a statutory immunity from such claims.

A spokeswoman for British Airways (BA) declined to discuss liability arrangements, but did say: "At this stage we're proposing to sit down with NATS and discuss ways to make sure a similar situation does not happen again."

EasyJet noted that the air traffic control system needs updating, but the company feels NATS is not at the breaking point.

"We are heading towards that, but we haven't reached it yet. This is a software glitch," said a spokesman.

As part of a consortium of airlines called the Airline Group that will bid to run NATS on privatisation, both BA and EasyJet said the software problem won't immediately impact the saleability of NATS.

"When it comes to due diligence, that's the stage when any bidder will have their computer guys trawl through the system," said the EasyJet spokesman. "The lawyers and accountants wouldn't let a deal go ahead without taking into consideration any problems, and the length of time and the cost it would take to deal with that."