Air-traffic control delays affect 75 per cent more British Airways flights than prior to Covid, the airline has said.
The revelation is included in a letter to BA staff sent out today by senior management and seen by The Independent.
It begins: “Yesterday was one of the toughest days we and our customers have faced for many months.
“Last night saw us contending with strong winds, low visibility and repeated bands of torrential rain across the London Traffic Management Area and the surrounding area which resulted in lengthy delays to all airlines’ flights departing and arriving at Heathrow.
“Unfortunately, a number of aircraft yesterday evening couldn’t get timely air-traffic clearance to depart. The primary driver of this was air-traffic delays to departing flights, which left us with no choice but to cancel those flights at late notice, which is never a situation we want to be in.”
The letter goes on to say: “42 per cent of our flights this year [were] disrupted by regulations put in place by air-traffic control, up from 24 per cent in 2019.” That equates to 75 per cent more BA flights disrupted due to air-traffic control restrictions than before Covid.
The British Airways letter to staff says: “We’re working with [air-traffic control provider] Nats to learn lessons from our recent experiences so that together, we can build additional resilience for our customers and you, our colleagues.”
A spokesperson for Nats said: “Yesterday’s weather was as everyone knows, shocking and so there were weather-related air traffic control regulations in place.
“These temporary restrictions are only ever applied to maintain safety. Our chief operating officer met with British Airways and Heathrow on Monday 23 September and we have all committed to do an open-book data analysis to mutually understand how our operations can work together to minimise disruption during challenging operational days.”
Air-traffic control (ATC) is also under fire from Ryanair. In a statement today, Europe’s biggest budget airline said: “On Friday 27 September, 16 per cent of Ryanair’s first wave departures, representing 93 of 569 aircraft, were delayed due to ATC ‘staff shortages’.
“These repeated flight delays due to ATC mismanagement are unacceptable.
“We apologise to our passengers for these repeated…
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