Jet2 has called for urgent action to improve National Air Traffic Services (NATS), after airlines had to ‘pick up the pieces’ following last week’s air traffic control failure.
The operator said around 7,200 of its customers due to fly home to the UK required additional assistance at the height of the disruption. Overall, the failure led to the cancellation of an estimated 1,300 flights and affected at least 75,000 travellers.
Jet2 said it arranged more than a dozen extra flights, deployed additional teams and used all available spare aircraft capacity to bring customers home from destinations including Greece, Turkey, Spain and Malta.
The company also provided ground transport support in the UK and secured third-party airline capacity where required.
It said colleagues from across the business, including flight crews, operational teams and its dedicated Red Team, worked around the clock to support customers, including arranging overnight hotel accommodation where possible.
Some outbound flights from the UK were cancelled as a direct result of the NATS failure, and Jet2 said it prioritised making clear and timely decisions and providing affected customers with information and support as quickly as possible. Customers whose trips were cancelled will receive a full refund.
CEO Steve Heapy said: “Our teams went above and beyond to look after customers, get people home and recover our operation after last week’s latest NATS failure.
“By arranging extra flying and deploying every available resource, we have been able to help thousands of customers return home as quickly as possible.”
He said he wanted to thank his ‘fantastic colleagues’.
“Their effort has been exceptional, but the simple fact is that hardworking holidaymakers should never have been put in this position in the first place,” Steve added.
“This latest failure caused significant disruption to thousands of our customers through no fault of their own, and once again airlines, colleagues and customers were left to pick up the pieces because critical national infrastructure failed.
“That is completely unacceptable and holidaymakers deserve much better. The Government has a direct responsibility given its 49% ownership of NATS, and with customers needing confidence and airlines needing certainty, proper answers are required following this latest failure.”
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