Professor KV Subramanian, a distinguished economist and former Chief Economic Adviser to the government, has declared that the 'unraveling of the West has started.' His comments came in response to a widespread air traffic control failure in the UK, which led to approximately 2,000 flight cancellations and millions of pounds in losses for airlines.
UK Air Traffic Control Outage Sparks Debate
The outage, which occurred in September 2026, crippled Britain's NATS air traffic control provider for several hours. This disruption left hundreds of thousands of passengers stranded and prompted a broader discussion about infrastructure and service quality in Western nations.
Subramanian's remarks were made in reply to a social media post by Milind Deora, who recounted his challenging experience navigating European travel during the chaos. Deora's flight to London was diverted to Amsterdam, where he faced an 18-hour wait at Schiphol Airport without luggage, compounded by a Dutch transport strike that halted train services.
"I’ve long maintained (since the Global Financial Crisis to be precise) that the unraveling of the West has started. Mark my words: Future generations will ask why their great grandparents didn’t have the wisdom to see where the West was headed & chose to leave India to move there," Subramanian stated.
Deora echoed a sentiment shared by many, noting, "We often complain about India, but our aviation infra & customer service are often better than the West."
NATS Under Scrutiny Following Repeated Failures
This incident marks the second significant failure for NATS in three years, renewing intense scrutiny on the air traffic control provider. Transport Minister Heidi Alexander summoned NATS chief executive Martin Rolfe, demanding a report on the failure within one week. Alexander also announced an independent review by the Civil Aviation Authority, expected to deliver findings in six months, emphasizing that passengers should not endure such disruptions.
The breakdown was not believed to be a cyberattack, but Alexander stated, "I do not believe this issue was unavoidable." Previous incidents include a shutdown in August 2023 caused by a rogue flight plan, costing airlines an estimated £100 million, and a radar-related technical issue in July 2025.
Michael O'Leary, Group CEO of Ryanair, criticized the latest outage as an "absolute rerun" of the 2023 event, reiterating his call for Rolfe's resignation. While some online users commended India's airport infrastructure, others highlighted that issues like strikes in the Netherlands were driven by demands for better pay, even for workers already earning more than their Indian counterparts, indicating complex socio-economic factors at play.