Heathrow shutdown shows how airline chaos can spiral

Managing crises is a delicate balance

- NIRAJ CHOKSHI

The airline industry prepares for chaos. But that doesn’t make responding to it any less complicated.

Carriers worked frantically Friday to reroute flights after a power outage at Heathrow Airport in London, a global hub, left tens of thousands of passengers stranded. But the aviation system is deeply interconnected, and responding to such severe disruptions is a delicate balancing act. For airlines, moving even a small number of flights can have cascading effects.

“They're thinking not just in terms of a single day, but recovery,” said Dr Michael McCormick, a professor of air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, who managed the federal airspace over New York during the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. “They have to look at where passengers with bags, aircraft and aircrews need to be tomorrow, the next day and the next day”

When crises occur, airlines’ network operation centres jump into overdrive. They are the nerve centres of the business — typically large, quiet, secure rooms with power backups and protections against severe weather and disasters.