Airlines scramble to dig out from tech problems that canceled 1,750 flights in the UK

LONDON (AP) — The head of Britain ’s air traffic control system was summoned to a meeting with the country's transport minister as airlines scrambled Wednesday to dig out from the backlog triggered by technical problems that forced the cancellation of more than 1,750 flights .

The problems first surfaced on Tuesday, disrupting travel across the U.K. and stranding passengers for hours on airport runways and in terminals. Flight delays were expected to continue through the day Wednesday as airlines rebook stranded passengers and work to reposition aircraft left at the wrong airports by the cancellations.

Britain's National Air Traffic Services, or NATS, which operates the air traffic control system, attributed the problems to “an issue in our flight processing system” that has been resolved.

Budget carriers Ryanair and Wizz Air have called for the head of the NATS, Martin Rolfe, to consider resigning after a second major outage hit the air traffic control system in three years.

Rolfe on Wednesday apologized for the inconvenience caused by the outage but said the U.K. air traffic control system remains one of the safest and most efficient in the world.

“Our job is also to make sure that people stay safe,” he told the BBC. “We never do this lightly. We only ever do it when there is an issue that cannot be resolved quickly, and we have to take action to make (sure) those who are flying, who are in the air at that time, are safe. And when we can restore these incredibly complex systems we do so as quickly as we can.”

But Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander sought further explanation and summoned Rolfe for a meeting.

“I am seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and systems that support aviation are up to the job,” she said in a post on X.