What the latest NATS disruption means for UK business travel
A second technical failure at NATS in less than two weeks caused further disruption to UK flights on Monday 21 September, prompting renewed questions about the resilience of the country’s air traffic control infrastructure.
For UK business travellers, the issue goes beyond a delayed or cancelled flight. Disruption on this scale can mean missed meetings, disrupted projects, additional hotel nights and employees being left away from home, while travel management companies work to find alternative flights and keep travellers informed and supported.
The latest problem occurred at the NATS control centre in Prestwick, Scotland. NATS said a connectivity issue affecting part of its systems network led to air traffic restrictions being introduced while engineers investigated the problem. The issue affected flights across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, with aviation data specialist Cirium reporting that at least 227 flights were cancelled.
NATS subsequently confirmed that the fault had been fixed and stressed that it was unrelated to the technical failure earlier in September.
That distinction is important. The previous incident, on 8 September, was traced to a software defect in a small part of the National Airspace System, according to a preliminary NATS report published on 18 September. NATS said mitigation had been put in place while a permanent fix was being safety tested.
However, two separate failures within such a short period have inevitably brought renewed attention to the resilience of the systems on which UK aviation depends.
Business travel feels the consequences
Following the earlier September failure, Business Travel Association Chief Executive Clive Wratten highlighted the wider consequences for companies and their travellers, as well as the important role played by travel management companies during major disruption.
Clive Wratten said:
“Travel management companies belong in the room when lessons are being learned. Business travel drives the UK economy. It deserves an air traffic system built to match.”
The BTA has argued that disruption of this kind is not simply an airline or airport problem. When large numbers of flights are affected simultaneously, travel management companies are often on the frontline, rebooking journeys, providing information and helping businesses look after employees whose plans have suddenly changed.
For Global Travel Management, which recently joined the BTA, that is an important part of the discussion.
Paul Baker, Sales Director at Global Travel Management, said:
“For a business traveller, a cancelled flight can be much more than an inconvenience. It could mean a missed customer meeting, an engineer not reaching a site or somebody being unable to get home when they expected to. When widespread disruption happens, having people available who understand your journey and can start looking at the alternatives can make a real difference.”
Why resilience matters for business travel
Modern business travel depends on a highly interconnected system. Airlines, airports, air traffic control, rail services, ground transport and technology all have to work together, and a problem in one part can quickly affect the rest of a traveller’s itinerary.
It is also why disruption management is an important part of a managed business travel programme. The cheapest or most convenient itinerary at the point of booking is only part of the equation. Businesses also need to consider what happens when a journey does not go according to plan, how quickly alternative arrangements can be made and how employees will be supported while they are travelling.
NATS has apologised to passengers affected by the latest incident and said it worked with airports and airlines to remove the remaining restrictions as quickly as possible once the problem had been resolved.
With two different technical failures affecting UK air traffic control during September, however, the question of resilience is unlikely to disappear. For businesses whose employees need to travel, the events are another reminder that good business travel management is not simply about getting people from A to B. It is also about having a plan for what happens when getting from A to B suddenly becomes considerably more complicated.
If you would like further information about how Global Travel Management can support your travellers before, during and after disruption, please contact your Global Travel Management Account Manager.