“ATC ruined our holiday”: Really?

A deliberately provocative website, atcruinedourholiday.com, invites passengers to write to their Minister of Transport to denounce delays and cancellations blamed on Air Traffic Control (ATC). The campaign, spearheaded by low-cost airline Ryanair, even uses the slogan “Have you been von Derlayed-Again?” by analogy with the name of European Commission President von Der Leyen. It also publishes a sarcastic ranking of European states accused of generating the majority of ATC delays in Europe—complete with the names and email addresses of the respective ministers (including, for France, Philippe Tabarot).

Behind this PR stunt—amplified by Ryanair itself on its flight booking site—the underlying issue isn’t entirely made up. It’s true that the performance of the European network has worsened in recent years.

But reducing the problem to “mismanaged and short-staffed ATC” and turning it into a weapon aimed at a few capitals is a simplistic take. The Irish low-cost carrier, known for such communication tactics, has made controversy its trademark. After previously comparing its airline pilots to “mere bus drivers,” CEO Michael O’Leary now seems to have found a new target: air traffic control. This website channels a very real frustration from travelers while conveniently sidestepping the deeper issues at stake.

ATC: 2024 was a bad year

EUROCONTROL, the intergovernmental European organization managing air navigation across Europe, states it clearly: in 2024, average en-route traffic management delays reached approximately 2.1 minutes per flight. That may sound low, but it’s on par with the worst periods since the early 2000s. Breaking it down, European regulators cite a range of causes—primarily ATC and weather. Summer weather, in particular, can severely disrupt operations when cascading reroutes hit already saturated airspaces.

The “Performance Review” report drives the point home. En-route delays in 2024 reached their “worst level in decades,” with a cost to airspace users—mainly airlines—estimated at around €2.8 billion. For an airline, this goes far beyond the inconvenience of “ruined holidays.” Ryanair’s campaign claims to empathize with passengers, but the subtext from company leadership is more about lost competitiveness and revenue.

Where the campaign has a point… and where it benefits (a lot) from it

The campaign holds states accountable—and rightly so. Legally and politically, air traffic control is a national responsibility. National sovereignty, budget decisions, and HR policies related to ATC are handled at the country level. That’s a fact, and the “you pay for a service, yet suffer from it” message hits home with paying passengers. But the framing is also dangerously reductive. By blaming ATC, it distracts from the systemic nature of flight delays.

Europe’s airspace is among the most congested in the world. Tight low-cost carrier turnarounds—often under 30 minutes—operate on razor-thin margins. This cash machine runs smoothly when everything goes right but becomes highly vulnerable when delays accumulate, airspace is restricted, or one region becomes a bottleneck due to intense traffic. EUROCONTROL specifically cites limited airspace availability, military activity, and geopolitical tensions as worsening factors. So yes, there is a real issue behind Ryanair’s campaign—but it’s not one that can be fixed overnight. For instance, training an air traffic controller is a long process. Where the campaign says “just hire more staff,” it’s offering a quick fix to a deeply rooted issue.

Europe knows what to do—but is moving too slowly

In a December 2025 note, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) backed up what the entire sector (not just Ryanair) has observed since 2015. Delays in Europe have cost €16.1 billion, with over 70% linked to capacity limitations and staffing issues. And yet, structural reform of European airspace continues to drag on. The modernization of Europe’s skies is not a new topic. The Single European Sky has become a recurring cliché. The issue isn’t lack of diagnosis—it’s the gap between ambition and execution, between speeches and the harsh reality of a network that is tested every summer.

EUROCONTROL data for December 2025 showed average en-route delays in Europe down to 0.6 minutes per flight. The total for the year stood at 1.7 minutes—an improvement over 2024. Not a triumph, but a reminder that performance fluctuates. The causes of delays are, however, complex and numerous.

Jean-François Bourgain, January 19, 2026, for AeroMorning