Heathrow shutdown is a ‘dramatic learning curve’ in airport crisis management, expert says
The closure of London’s Heathrow Airport due to a nearby fire on Friday has put the focus on the aviation industry’s ability to handle a crisis, according to a travel industry expert. At the time of writing, Heathrow remained shut after a fire at an electricity substation that caused a power outage on Friday. “The growth of the [aviation] industry is happening faster than the growth of infrastructure,” said Anita Mendiratta, founder of consultancy AM&A, who stressed that aviation needs to become more resilient to incidents like an energy supply disruption, or to geopolitical or weather events. The Heathrow outage is “putting a spotlight on the need to make sure that the entire network of energy supply for any ... airport around the world has sufficient capability to address a crisis,” Mendiratta said on Friday. “All of this is a very dramatic learning curve.” A back-up generator was also affected by the blaze, raising questions over the resilience of the supporting energy infrastructure, according to U.K. Energy Minister Ed Miliband, while Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) described Heathrow’s reliance on a “single” power source as a “clear planning failure” by the airport. In an emailed statement, Heathrow said it has multiple sources of energy. “Our back up systems are safety systems which allow us to land aircraft and evacuate passengers safely, but they are not designed to allow us to run a full operation,” Heathrow said. Mendiratta said the Heathrow incident would have a ripple effect for aviation that goes far beyond flight cancelations. She described the implications of the Heathrow incident as “very wide,” as the growth of aviation is outpacing the increase in supporting infrastructure, she said. Mendiratta described the growth of aviation globally as “massive.” “It is extreme in terms of how it has grown far beyond even 2019 rates,” she said. This raises questions over the industry’s resilience to unplanned weather or geopolitical events and whether the surrounding infrastructure can support it.<br/>
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Heathrow shutdown is a ‘dramatic learning curve’ in airport crisis management, expert says
The closure of London’s Heathrow Airport due to a nearby fire on Friday has put the focus on the aviation industry’s ability to handle a crisis, according to a travel industry expert. At the time of writing, Heathrow remained shut after a fire at an electricity substation that caused a power outage on Friday. “The growth of the [aviation] industry is happening faster than the growth of infrastructure,” said Anita Mendiratta, founder of consultancy AM&A, who stressed that aviation needs to become more resilient to incidents like an energy supply disruption, or to geopolitical or weather events. The Heathrow outage is “putting a spotlight on the need to make sure that the entire network of energy supply for any ... airport around the world has sufficient capability to address a crisis,” Mendiratta said on Friday. “All of this is a very dramatic learning curve.” A back-up generator was also affected by the blaze, raising questions over the resilience of the supporting energy infrastructure, according to U.K. Energy Minister Ed Miliband, while Willie Walsh, director general of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) described Heathrow’s reliance on a “single” power source as a “clear planning failure” by the airport. In an emailed statement, Heathrow said it has multiple sources of energy. “Our back up systems are safety systems which allow us to land aircraft and evacuate passengers safely, but they are not designed to allow us to run a full operation,” Heathrow said. Mendiratta said the Heathrow incident would have a ripple effect for aviation that goes far beyond flight cancelations. She described the implications of the Heathrow incident as “very wide,” as the growth of aviation is outpacing the increase in supporting infrastructure, she said. Mendiratta described the growth of aviation globally as “massive.” “It is extreme in terms of how it has grown far beyond even 2019 rates,” she said. This raises questions over the industry’s resilience to unplanned weather or geopolitical events and whether the surrounding infrastructure can support it.<br/>
