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Heathrow chief out of reach during airport shutdown as phone was on silent, says report
- On 21 March 2025, Heathrow Airport suspended all operations for approximately 16 hours following a fire at the North Hyde electricity substation in west London.
- A fire disrupted the power supply to Europe’s busiest airport, leading Javier Echave, the chief operating officer, to halt all airport activities at 1:15am while CEO Thomas Woldbye's phone was on silent and did not alert him to emergency alarms or Echave's calls until 6:45am.
- During the shutdown, security staff relied on phone torches due to power loss, just 1,637 passengers flew, representing only 0.8% of typical throughput, with 1,300 flights cancelled or diverted.
- Heathrow committed to implementing the Kelly Review’s recommendations to improve resilience, acknowledging the disruption but maintaining the response was appropriate in exceptional circumstances.
15 Articles
15 Articles
This is revealed by the independent survey report after the stop on March 21st with almost 1,300 cancelled flights and 200 thousand passengers affected. From flames to closure here are all the phases
The boss of Heathrow slept through the first 6 hours of a mass power outage that shut down Europe's busiest airport
An electrical substation fire shut down Heathrow Airport in March.Carlos Jasso/REUTERS200,000 passengers faced disruption when London Heathrow Airport suffered a power outage in March.A review found the CEO was asleep while key decisions were made in the early hours of the morning.He said he didn't realise his phone had entered silent mode, while the COO took charge.The CEO of London Heathrow Airport was asleep and colleagues struggled to reach …
Heathrow boss slept through disastrous power outage with his phone on silent - The Mirror
Senior staff at London Heathrow Airport couldn't reach Thomas Woldbye, Chief Executive Officer, to inform him they had decided to suspend operations because of a fire at a substation in Hayes
Thomas Woldbye was called twice during the night, but did not answer because he was asleep. He did not hear until the morning that all air traffic had been stopped.
Real reason Heathrow boss slept through shutdown after fire revealed
HEATHROW’S boss slept through its shutdown over an electrical fire as his phone was on silent, an inquiry has found. Thomas Woldbye was tucked up in bed as senior staff were left to suspend flights. PAThomas Woldbye slept through the Heathrow shutdown because his phone was on silent[/caption] The chief executive’s phone was on a bedside table but he was not woken by a succession of emergency alarms and calls. He played no part in the shutdown de…
Heathrow chief's phone was on silent as power cut fire unfolded, inquiry reveals
An internal review into the airport's disruptive closure earlier this year said that communication at the site could be improved but found that the decision to suspend operations was "correctly made".
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