Air Traffic Control: Your rights at work if you’ve had a cancelled flight, according to an employer lawyer

Sam Johnson
By Sam Johnson
Published 29th Aug 2023, 15:26 BST
Updated 29th Aug 2023, 15:26 BST
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Thousands of UK passengers have faced delays and cancellations due to air traffic control issues - but what are your employer rights for a cancelled flight?

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled across the UK due to a failure of air traffic control system, leaving thousands of passengers facing delays and cancellations. The issue began on Monday morning (August 28) at the headquarters of the National Air Traffic Services (NATS) when its flight planning system failed.

NATS was unable to automatically process the flight plans which are submitted by airlines, meaning they had to be inputted manually, causing huge delays. The outage has now been resolved but has caused significant delays at major UK airports, including Heathrow, Newcastle and Manchester.

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For many, this would mean potentially not returning on the day that you were due to return to work, and therefore, you may be wondering what your options are regarding pay and annual leave.

Flight delays: Workers rights 

James Watkins, Employment Lawyer at