The boss of Nats, the air traffic control service, has quit after five years in charge. Richard Deakin, who earned more than £1m in 2014, has stood down as chief executive with immediate effect.
The managing director of operations, Martin Rolfe, has taken the helm, although the board said it was looking for a successor among internal and external candidates.
Nats said Deakin was leaving by mutual consent as the company was embarking on a new regulatory period and was preparing to implement the single European sky programme, which will see much closer integration of air traffic control services across borders.
Chairman Paul Golby said it was “an appropriate time to make a change to the leadership of the company, and to bring a new perspective and approach”.
Deakin faced calls from MPs for either his resignation or the forfeiture of his bonus after a computer failure at the Swanwick control centre in Hampshire last December grounded flights for several hours across the UK. It followed a similar failure the previous year when the then business secretary, Vince Cable, accused Nats of “skimping on investment” and being “penny wise and pound foolish”.
Nats would not reveal whether Deakin was likely to get a bonus for 2015 until it publishes its annual report in June.
Deakin, however, may have contributed to sparing the country the cost of a new Thames Estuary airport after intervening to point out that London mayor Boris Johnson’s proposed hub was in the “very worst spot” for air traffic.
