Heathrow boss John Holland-Kaye blasted as farce over holiday flights

The former chief executive of British Airways owner IAG has slammed the Heathrow airport boss for failing to cope with a surge in demand this summer, calling the situation a “farce”.

Willie Walsh told The Mail on Sunday he had no sympathy for airport boss John Holland-Kaye as holidaymakers prepare to fly off on their summer holidays.

He said the airport “should have been better prepared” and “clearly could not cope with the increasing demand”.

Flight in trouble: Willie Walsh said the airport ‘should have been better prepared’ and ‘clearly cannot cope with rising demand’

Walsh came close to calling for top bosses at the heavily indebted airport to be fired because of the crisis. But he added: “If we’re in the same position next year, people should be fired without question.”

He made his comments amid calls for Holland-Kaye to come up with a better solution to the problem. He was given an ultimatum by the Department for Transport to come up with a “credible” plan to end the ongoing travel problems.

But the sentencing by Walsh, one of the most powerful figures in the industry who now represents a group of the world’s largest airlines, will put further pressure on Holland-Kaye and the airport’s foreign investors.

Heathrow last week told airlines to stop selling tickets for the summer and set a new daily limit of 100,000 passengers by September. It said the cuts would keep service at an acceptable level as long queues, baggage delays and cancellations have left the airport in chaos.

Walsh – who heads IATA, which represents hundreds of airlines including British Airways, American Airlines and Virgin Atlantic – told the MoS: “I think they should have been better prepared. It is a travesty to impose these last minute restrictions on airlines when in many cases they have sold tickets. It’s a terrible way to do business.’

Walsh also backed the Civil Aviation Authority’s comments that Heathrow investors – Spanish giant Ferrovial and the Qatar Investment Authority – may now need to come up with cash.

“The shareholders are extremely rich,” he said. “They did very well at Heathrow. I think a strong argument has been made that if Heathrow’s balance sheet needs repairing, it should now turn to its shareholders first.’

The world’s largest airline, Emirates, has also criticized the passenger limit and described the desolate situation at the airport as “Airmaggdon”.

Holland-Kaye said the unprecedented measure was crucial after “40 years of passenger growth in just four months” as some of its critical functions were still “significantly underfunded”.

On Friday he was told by ministers how he would solve Heathrow’s problems, particularly security screening and assistance to disabled passengers.

Disruption continues at Heathrow this week as workers at one of the airport’s main fueling companies prepare for a three-day strike that will affect major airlines including Virgin Atlantic, Delta and KLM.

It is understood that many in the industry are speculating that Holland-Kaye has run out of time to resolve the crisis.

The problems have shifted the focus to the tense balance sheet of the airport group. The Mail on Sunday has found that Heathrow’s parent company has not paid corporation tax for five of the last ten years of its operation.

An examination of its finances over the past decade reveals that the airport has paid out around £10bn in ‘funding charges’ – mostly to service its huge £15bn debt. Such payments can significantly reduce the profits of indebted companies and are therefore considered corporate tax liabilities. At the same time, it paid about £4 billion in dividends. Analysis of Heathrow company records shows Holland-Kaye has been paid almost £10million since 2018, with his salary increasing by £700,000 to £1.5million last year.

A Heathrow spokesman said the company was “one of the largest taxpayers in the UK, contributing £210m in 2021”.

It said its tax contribution over the past six years “exceeds £1.7billion” – including £762million in business taxes.

But Ruth Cadbury MP, who is a member of Parliament’s Transport Committee, said Heathrow’s finances “need to be reviewed”. She said: “You can be a debt-ridden company, your shareholders pay and the taxpayers get nothing. But ordinary people have to face an increase in Social Security. That is shocking.”

Walsh added that Heathrow’s “mindset was all about economic regulation and didn’t care about the customer”.