A decision by the head of Heathrow Airport to go to bed during last month’s substation fire was “questionable,” the chief executive of one of its main airlines has said.
In an interview with the Telegraph, Virgin Atlantic boss Shai Weiss said the behaviour of Thomas Woldbye was not that expected of a chief executive.
More than 200,000 passengers faced travel disruption last month after a large fire at a nearby electrical substation caused a huge power cut at the airport and led to a one-day shutdown.
Questions have since been asked of Heathrow’s response to the incident, with airlines’ complaining that concerns over the vulnerability of its power supply were ignored.
It was later revealed that Woldbye, who took the top job at the UK’s busiest airport in June 2023, had gone to bed at around 12:30am, shortly after the blaze began. According to reports, Echave made the final decision on whether to close the airport.
Speaking to the Telegraph, Weiss said: “I know what I would have done, I would have rushed to the airport at that moment. All CEOs are geared for that.
“You lead from the front and then you delegate back. I believe if Thomas had the opportunity again he would act differently, but that’s a question for him.
He added: “Heathrow didn’t create the fire but the response was not good and their decisions were questionable.”
‘No such thing as too new’
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said after the fire that she would “struggle to sleep” under the same circumstances.
Woldbye has said that he wasn’t aware of the scale of the crisis until calling into work from home at 7:30am.
But reports suggest he attended an event in central London the previous evening and may have been awake when the power outage struck.
Heathrow has faced fierce criticism from its airlines in recent years over high landing charges and a financial model they argue is “monopolistic.”
Weiss, whose airline is pursuing up to £10m in compensation from Heathrow over the fire, said the fact Woldbye joined less than 18 months ago did not absolve him of responsibility for criticism.
“There’s no such thing for CEOs as too new,” Weiss told the Telegraph.
“I don’t remember anybody calling me up at the start of the pandemic, when I had been in charge for a year, and saying, ‘you don’t have to deal with this, you’re too new, you get a free pass’.”
Heathrow said following the incident that Woldbye’s decision was made to ensure it had “experienced leaders able to take key decisions having had adequate rest”.
