‘Unusual piece of data’ joins growing list of reasons for air travel hell

Image of the week: Grounded (again)

Travel hell was back with a vengeance this week as traffic flow restrictions over UK airspace caused severe disruptions at European airports on Monday, with a backlog of misery lingering for days after. Waiting, arriving, departing? Mostly waiting was the answer for many travellers stuck in airport limbo.

This time, the chaos couldn’t blamed on understaffing, the weather, cyberhackers, striking workers or even erupting volcanoes.

No, the technical failure at Nats, the company controlling UK air traffic control systems, was caused by the filing of a “dodgy flight plan”, with Nats chief executive Martin Rolfe admitting that an “unusual piece of data” led to what some media outlets labelled – perhaps confusingly in the context of air travel – as a “crash”.

The whole debacle could cost the airline industry up to £100 million (€116 million), according to International Air Transport Association boss Willie Walsh, who dubbed the outage “staggering” and a “fiasco”.

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[ Airport chaos across Europe: know your rights if your flight is delayed or cancelled ]

But while Walsh said the Nats system should be designed to reject incorrect data rather than force a reversion to manual systems, Rolfe insisted that “even things like throwing data away” had to be carefully considered. Let us know when you’ve sorted it out, lads.

In numbers: Flaming Whoppers

35%

Inflation in the size of Burger King‘s Whoppers in promotional imagery compared to their actual size, according to a US class action lawsuit taken against the fast food company. The case bases its complaint on the extent to which the burger is seen to “overflow over the bun”. Burger King says the claims are false.

[ Burger King must face lawsuit claiming its Whoppers are too small ]

13

Years since the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, after some testing, ruled that a Burger King television advertisement had misled consumers over the size and composition of its Tendercrisp chicken burger. It had depicted the burger to be so large it filled a man’s hands.

15%

Extent to which McDonald’s and Wendy’s have inflated the size of their burgers in marketing materials, a separate New York class action lawsuit alleged last year. You live, you learn.

Getting to know: Michelle Bullock

Climate change is on the mind of Michelle Bullock, which is perhaps to be expected for someone who shares a name with a leading agricultural source of greenhouse gases.

The incoming governor (and current deputy governor) of the Reserve Bank of Australia has warned that global warming will create “particularly acute” uncertainties for the country’s central bank, including how to best manage inflation.

This is because a more frequent rate of bushfires, floods and other natural disasters triggered by climate change could prompt more regular supply shortages for certain products, driving up prices sharply more often and embedding volatility in the financial system.

Alongside the obvious risks of business disruption and property damage, there could also be “persistent adverse effects” on productive capacity – keeping prices higher – as well as “persistently higher” unemployment if people are “unable or unwilling to leave a region that has suffered from extreme weather”. Stark.

The list: Business-themed television

Beyond CNBC and Bloomberg, business of the non-show variety doesn’t typically top the list of television commissioners’ priorities. There is still, however, a decent smattering of content on the way from broadcasters and streamers about the worlds of work and industry.

1. Inside Penneys: RTÉ's upcoming season will include a documentary that “journeys into the fast-moving headquarters of one of Ireland’s best-known retailers”. Godspeed.

2. Big Vape: The Rise and Fall of Juul: The vaping lobby is no doubted poised for counter-offensive moves in advance of Netflix’s forthcoming documentary series about the US e-cigarette company.

3. Inside the Factory: The BBC has announced that Paddy McGuinness will join the presenting team for the next run of its factual series dedicated to exploring the mechanics of manufacturing.

4. Sun, Sea and Scalpels: The Ryanair-boosting vogue for cosmetic surgery tourism will be put under a surgical spotlight in this RTÉ show.

5. Aerfort Dhún nan Gall: This TG4 documentary will offer “a unique insight into the running of Donegal airport” from passenger safety to celebrity-spotting. Yes, that is Sarah Jessica Parker on the tarmac.