Atc Inc.

The analysis looked at departure data for six of the biggest airlines – British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Tui and Wizz Air – between May 2024 and April 2025. They show that all of the airlines were less punctual now than before the pandemic in 2019

The worst offending airlines for delays have been revealed amid an industry-wide slipping of standards.

Take-offs within 15 minutes of planned departure times are down significantly pre-Covid compared to now for almost all major airlines flying through UK airspace, according to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data.

There are several factors in play, including a rise in the number of flights taking off, airspace restrictions as a result of military conflicts and issues with air traffic control (ATC) staffing.

Which? studied checked departure data for six of the biggest airlines – British Airways, easyJet, Jet2, Ryanair, Tui and Wizz Air – between May 2024 and April 2025. They show that all of the airlines were less punctual now than before the pandemic in 2019.

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Out of the six big UK airlines, Tui was the worst for punctuality according to the analysis, with the lowest average percentage of on-time departures. Back in 2019, an average of 67.2 per cent of Tui’s departures were on time, but by 2024–25, that had slipped to 59.2 per cent.

Second-worst for punctuality for the time period Which? looked at was Wizz Air. Its average on-time rate was already as low as 66.8 per cent back in 2019, and by 2023 it had plummeted to 55.6 per cent. In 2024–25 it now has fewer delays with 66 per cent, almost back to its pre-pandemic level.

It’s a similar story for Ryanair, whose average on-time departures were at 77.8 per cent in 2019 but fell to 63 per cent by 2022, only recovering to 66.5 per cent by 2024–25.

easyJet’s punctuality was 70.6 per cent in 2019 but dropped to 67.8 per cent in 2024–25, while the CAA data also showed a decline in Jet2’s punctuality. In 2019 departures punctuality was 81.8 per cent, and in 2024–25 was 68 per cent.

British Airways’ punctuality was at 71.5 per cent in 2019, and as high as 75.8 per cent the year before. By 2024–25 it had fallen to 68.7 per cent.

Some airlines are blaming air traffic control (ATC) for these delays. In May, Ryanair launched a website called ‘Air Traffic Control Ruined Your Flight’, along with a ‘League of Delays’ claiming to expose the worst ATCs across Europe for delays ‘due to mismanagement and staff shortages from January to May 2025’.

Eurocontrol, which speaks for the European network of air traffic controllers, admitted that in some parts of the network, the number of ATC officers is 10–20 per cent lower than would be needed to manage the demand.

The UK’s own ATC body, NATS (formerly known as National Air Traffic Services), said that it is “fully staffed and operating normally”.

Any other air traffic control delays are only exacerbated by other factors at play. Some parts of the airspace, through which major airlines fly, are closed off for military or geopolitical reasons.

Eurocontrol has said that the crisis in the Middle East has led to traffic becoming unevenly spread – after already losing 20 per cent of airspace following the war in Ukraine. Those complexities add to an already expanding ATC workload. Airport capacity is another issue.

And while delays are worsening, airlines are putting on record numbers of flights. Although Ryanair hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic levels of punctuality, it scheduled 162,411 flights in 2024, according to CAA data – 24,192 more than in 2019. Wizz Air put on 29,325 flights in 2024, up 3,534 from the 25,791 it flew in 2019.

A spokesperson for easyJet said: “easyJet always does all possible to get our customers to their destinations on time and minimise any delays despite flying in some of the most congested airspace in the world.”

A spokesperson for Tui said: “Punctuality is super important to us and has highest priority but there is one topic even more important: to operate each and every flight and to not cancel any flight. That’s what we do at TUI because we have holidaymakers onboard which we want to fly to their destination and also back.

“So, sometimes we have flights delayed by a couple of hours because we need to get a replacement aircraft ready. But for guests the good news is: their flight isn’t cancelled and they can still fly. Other airlines have or use the possibility to cancel flights which then would also not be part of the delay statistics anymore.

“And, one important point: within our overall fleet of 130 airplanes we have about 11 spare airplanes – the highest number we ever had and which helps us to keep a network alive without cancellations.

“So yes we want to be more punctual but we also keep our credo to never cancel, which is the even more important topic for our holiday guests.”

A spokesperson for Wizz Air said: “At Wizz Air, every minute matters, and that’s why we are committed to ensuring our customers reach their destinations as smoothly and as promptly as possible. Some delays are outside of our control, and we do whatever we can to avoid cancellations. Our completion rate (meaning completing the flights we schedule) was one of the best in the entire industry in 2024 at 99.4% – and that has increased to 99.9% for flights from the UK between January and April this year. While we know delays are frustrating and we always try our best to avoid them, we would rather delay than cancel a flight, as we know how important it is for our passengers to reach their destinations.

“Our on-time performance (flights arriving when they are scheduled to) continues to improve. From 2022 to 2024, our on-time performance for flights from the UK improved by more than 20%. We were also named the UK’s second-most punctual airline in Cirium’s 2024 On-Time Performance Review, achieving a 70.54% on-time arrival record. The percentage of delayed flights is also decreasing year-on-year. In particular, longer delays are a rare occurrence, with just 1% of flights from the UK in 2025* delayed for three hours or more.

“The facts speak for themselves, and this progress reflects the effort and investment we have made in improving our service, which is a daily focus for us. But we know there is more work to be done. Punctuality is a key priority of our Customer First Compass – a £12 billion framework to ensure we can deliver the best possible service for our customers. As part of this, we are enhancing the resilience of our operations to minimise cancellations, reduce delays and provide fast solutions in the event of a disruption.”

British Airways and Ryanair did not comment.

Monica Clare, 68, was onboard an Aer Lingus flight from Heathrow to Shannon, Ireland, when the problem began. Her flight was one of more than 150 cancelled on Thursday

Passengers swept up in the air traffic control chaos of Wednesday evening have now found out why their flights were disrupted.

Monica Clare, from Brentford, west London, is one of the unlucky group who had their holiday plans ruined last night. The 68-year-old was on an Aer Lingus aircraft ready to depart from Heathrow to Shannon, Ireland, when things went south. She recounted how the plane stayed on the runway for roughly three hours before the captain informed that his “shift was going to finish”, necessitating the passengers’ return to the terminal.

Ms Clare described the scene inside Heathrow as “bedlam”, with “suitcases everywhere”. The retired maintenance manager had to return home after being informed that Aer Lingus had no available seats on flights that would get her to her friend’s wedding in Limerick on Friday. Her frustrating situation comes as holidaymakers with trips booked this week scramble to figure out what they should do.

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Ms Clare found that alternative routes, such as travelling to a port and taking a ferry, were impractical and too costly after already shelling out for flights. She is currently seeking refunds for car hire and hotel reservations.

“I’m absolutely numb. I’m so upset. I’m heartbroken. It’s disgraceful. I think it’s absolutely unbelievable in this day and age that something that went down for 20 minutes has caused havoc like that all over the country,” she said.

“I’m so upset, I’m so angry. I’ve spokem to my friend who’s getting married. They’re devastated. We can’t now go to the wedding. I was so excited, and it’s all gone.”

Ms Clare is far from the only one who has been impacted. Asha, 18, from Manchester, said the chaos had ruined her first holiday Interrailing. She told the BBC her 3.10pm flight to Amsterdam had actually departed and was in the air for 50 minutes – before turning around. Hours later, she said she was still ‘stuck’ on the tarmac at the city’s airport

John Carr, a chiropodist from Stourbridge, was one of thousands of stranded Brits left in limbo after his flight from Heathrow to Norway was cancelled at the last minute. He and a group of friends were on their way to his brother’s wedding, for which he is best man, when he found out after checking in that his flight was cancelled.

The 35-year-old said: “I’m pretty gutted. We’ve got loads of stuff in the suitcases to set up the venue, because we’re obviously flying to Norway. We’ve got the wedding rehearsal to do. It’s quite stressful. It’s rubbish. There’s nothing we can do. We don’t know what we’re going to do tonight in terms of accommodation. We have put our cars in special car compounds for the next six days.”

It has now come to light that a “radar-related issue” was at fault for the mass disruption, which saw flights grounded across the UK on Wednesday.

NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe was summoned to speak with Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander on Thursday morning, a day after thousands of passengers were disrupted by the technical problem which forced the cancellation of more than 150 flights.

Airlines are demanding a deeper explanation for what happened. A spokesperson for NATS said, “This was a radar-related issue, which was resolved by quickly switching to the backup system, during which time we reduced traffic to ensure safety. There is no evidence that this was cyber-related.”

It is understood that the back-up system continues to be used by controllers while investigations continue. Ms Alexander said: “I have spoken with Nats CEO Martin Rolfe who provided further detail on yesterday’s technical fault.

“This was an isolated event and there is no evidence of malign activity. I will continue to receive regular updates.”

The problem happened at NATS’ control centre in Swanwick, Hampshire, and affected the vast majority of England and Wales. A Government source said the failure lasted around 20 minutes, and the level of disruption was similar to a day with bad weather.

Kenton Jarvis, chief executive of the Luton-based carrier, has warned that the industrial action is presenting “unacceptable challenges” – with 70% of flights affected

EasyJet’s chief, Kenton Jarvis, has slammed the recent French air traffic control (ATC) strikes, labelling them as a source of “unexpected and significant costs for all airlines” and deeming the disruptions “unacceptable challenges”.

The Luton-based airline’s boss expressed his frustration after tens of thousands of passengers faced chaos due to the walkouts by French ATC staff on July 3 and 4 over working conditions. Both flights operating to and from French airports and those scheduled to pass through French airspace were thrown into disarray.

Each day, an average of around 3,700 flights in total were delayed and 1,400 were canceled, according to a report from Eurocontrol, the central organisation for air traffic management on the continent.

“An ATC strike in France has the potential to impact a third of flights across the continent, showing the disproportionate impact that disruptions in one busy country can have on the European network as a whole,” Eurocontrol wrote in its report.

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Ryanair also felt the sting, with another strike on Wednesday throwing a spanner in the works for the travel plans of 30,000 customers. The airline’s boss Michael O’Leary has long been a critic of the French ATC unions.

While the unions haven’t announced any further action, it’s likely there may be more strikes, given the long running nature of the dispute. UNSA-ICNA wants pay rises in line with inflation following a 2023 agreement, as well as more staffing and better working conditions.

Mr Jarvis vented: “We are extremely unhappy with the strike action by the French ATC in early July, which as well as presenting unacceptable challenges for customers and crew also created unexpected and significant costs for all airlines.”

He pointed out that French ATC strikes have been the primary culprit behind easyJet flight delays since the onset of summer. Describing the early July industrial action as “very, very disruptive”, Mr Jarvis revealed it led to the cancellation of 660 flights and inflicted a £15 million dent in their finances.

With around 70% of easyJet’s flights either heading to or from a French airport or traversing France’s airspace, the impact is potentially very substantial. Despite having “very strong measures in place to protect our operations” and an improved punctuality record, Mr Jarvis admitted that these efforts fall short when “no measures will cope when French airspace effectively closes”.

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He remarked: “What we have to do is demand that the French government steps in and really works with their ANSP (air navigation service provider) because it has been the worst-performing air traffic control area in Europe, and they get ahead of it and do some long-term measures.

“More recruitment into the tower for controllers, protecting over-flying, using AI and data that’s available nowadays to improve the life of the controller. We’re asking for improved actions, but at easyJet we’ve made a lot of investment into our resilience.”

The budget airline easyJet has felt the pinch with a £10 million blow due to the recent surge in fuel costs. The carrier celebrated a headline pre-tax profit of £286 million from April to June. This marks a £50 million boost from the same period last year.

EasyJet reported that it transported 25.9 million passengers from April to June, marking a 2.2% increase compared to the same period last year.

Ryanair has singled out the UK as among the worst countries in Europe for air traffic control-caused flight delays – as the airline demanded the European Commission take action

Ryanair has launched a withering attack on air traffic control delays in the UK and a number of other countries.

Boss Michael O’Leary claimed a “scandal” of short staffing and mismanagement had caused widespread disruption for the airline and passengers. He singled out air traffic control in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Greece.

Mr O’Leary said it “can no longer be tolerated”, as he called on the European Commission to intervene.

Ryanair stepped up its attack by comparing the five countries with five others with, it said, the best track record on delays. The Irish airline said 3,380 of its flights last year were impacted by delays on UK air traffic control, soaring to 35,100 in France. Yet that compared with just 210 in Slovakia that had delays, and only 70 in Ireland.

Mr O’Leary branded operators in France, Spain, Germany, Greece and the UK “hopelessly mismanaged”. He went on: “The difference is that these are protected state monopolies, who don’t care about customer service, they don’t care about passengers, and they don’t care about their airline customers either. Every year they are short-staffed and they are responsible for over 90% of Europe’s flight delays, which adds an extra 10% to aviation emissions in Europe.

Mr O’Leary added: “Ryanair, our customers, and our passengers are fed up with these avoidable ATC delays, which are imposed on us every Summer by the French, the Germans, the Spanish, the Greeks and the British. All that is necessary to properly manage their ATC service is to recruit and train sufficient air traffic controllers, just as the Irish, the Danes, the Dutch, the Belgians and the Slovakians have already shown.

“It is time for this European mismanagement and incompetence to end, or for ATC services of France, Germany, Spain, Greece, and the UK to be opened up to the competition.”

Ryanair last week issued a warning to holidaymakers after travel chaos at several airports in Portugal meant that hundreds were left stranded at departure gates. The budget airline said more than 270 passengers have missed their flights over the past two weeks due to extensive queues and chronic understaffing at border control.

The worst delays are being felt in Faro, Lisbon and Porto airports, with wait times reportedly stretching to a staggering two and a half hours. In a statement, Ryanair called the situation as “completely unacceptable”, calling on Portugal’s new government to sort out the staffing crisis.

Ryanair placed the blame with airport operator ANA, accusing it of failing to prepare adequately for the annual summer travel surge.