Heathrow CEO Slept Through Major Power Outage Crisis

An internal inquiry found that Heathrow Airport CEO Thomas Woldbye was unreachable and slept through the initial hours of a March 21 power outage, as his phone was on silent mode. This outage, caused by a fire at a nearby substation, led to the suspension of all operations, grounding flights and disrupting over 270,000 passenger journeys. Chief Operating Officer Javier Echave made the decision to close the airport in Woldbye's absence. Despite repeated emergency calls and alarms, Woldbye only became aware of the crisis at 6:45am. The inquiry, led by Ruth Kelly, concluded that the shutdown decision was correct and that alternative actions would not have changed the outcome. The review recommended backup contact methods for key officials and further investment in energy resilience.