Proactive Investors - Ryanair (LON:0RYA) boss Michael O’Leary has renewed calls for Martin Rolfe, chief executive of air traffic controller Nats, to step down after another bout of chaos at Gatwick.
Shortages of Nats staff in the control tower saw at least 100 flights to and from Gatwick Airport cancelled on Sunday, affecting around 15,000 passengers.
O’Leary subsequently dubbed the incident “the latest in a long line of cock-ups” by the air traffic controller, which also saw easyJet (LON:EZJ) , Wizz Air Holdings PLC (LON:WIZZ) and International Consolidated Airlines Group (LON:ICAG)-owned British Airways flights affected.
“Ryanair again calls on UK Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe to step down and allow someone competent to run an efficient [...] service, which airlines and passengers are entitled to expect,” O’Leary added.
The latest call adds to growing pressure from Ryanair on Rolfe to step down after a string of Nats staffing issues have seen Gatwick flights hit.
Nats has previously stated it was “working in line” with a staffing plan agreed alongside Gatwick after the firm took over air traffic operations at the airport in 2022.
The latest incident follows widespread chaos over last year’s August bank holiday weekend, which prompted thousands of flights to be cancelled.
A technical fault had seen Nats’ system temporarily shut down, leaving air traffic controllers forced to manually input flight data during the incident.
Read more on Proactive Investors UK
0RYA: is this perennial leader facing new challenges?
With valuations skyrocketing in 2024, many investors are uneasy putting more money into stocks. Sure, there are always opportunities in the stock market – but finding them feels more difficult now than a year ago. Unsure where to invest next? One of the best ways to discover new high-potential opportunities is to look at the top performing portfolios this year. ProPicks AI offers 6 model portfolios from Investing.com which identify the best stocks for investors to buy right now. For example, ProPicks AI found 9 overlooked stocks that jumped over 25% this year alone. The new stocks that made the monthly cut could yield enormous returns in the coming years. Is 0RYA one of them?
Unlock ProPicks AI to find out