Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye went back to bed to make sure he was ‘well rested’ rather than work through the night as a fire raged through a power substation, it emerged last night.
He was at an event in central London when the power first went out at 11pm on Thursday, prompting him to return to the airport west of the capital.
When the scale of the incident became clear, senior leaders were split into two ‘gold commands’.
In the early hours of Friday, it was decided that Woldbye’s command group would go to bed.
His deputy Javier Echave was left in charge and he took the final decision to close the airport, sending a notice to air crew at 1.44am.
Woldbye resumed work by phone at 7.30am and was in his office at Compass House, Heathrow’s head office, shortly after 9am.
Insiders told the Sunday Times that the decision for Woldbye to go to bed was taken on safety grounds. It was felt vital that the person at the top was well-rested to make clear decisions.
Sean Doyle, chief executive of <a style="font-weight: bold;" target="_self" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/british_airways/index.html"…