Thousands Of Passengers Face Flight Delays In The U.K. After ‘Technical Issue’ Strikes Air Traffic Control
ForbesAug 21, 2023
The Facts
Following a technical disruption of the UK's National Air Traffic Services on Monday, more than a quarter of all flights nationwide were canceled. According to aviation data firm Cirium, 790 departures and 785 arrivals were canceled.
Following the technical problem, dismissed by Transport Minister Mark Harper as a potential cyber attack, 232 departures and 271 arrivals had been canceled by Monday afternoon (local time).
The Spin
Narrative A
While occasional flight delays are a nuisance for travelers, it should not be forgotten that an incident like this has not happened in the UK in almost ten years. However, the government and its transport industries have been fixing the problem expeditiously and a return to travel normalcy will resume soon enough.
Narrative B
This so-called technical issue occurred during one of Britain's busiest travel weeks, and countless people have been left without help as they remain stranded at airports with nowhere to go. The least the government can do is investigate how this happened so it never does again — this is a bad look all around.
