Heathrow Slams National Grid After Hayes Substation Fire Shuts Airport

A major power outage at Heathrow Airport followed a massive fire at a Hayes electricity substation on Thursday evening, triggering a shutdown that Heathrow chiefs later described as unavoidable despite claims from the National Grid that there was enough power to prevent it.

“The United Kingdom's Energy Minister, Ed Miliband, has ordered the Independent System Operator for the National Energy System (NESO) to urgently investigate the power outage incident that affected Heathrow Airport and the surrounding area”

- Actualidad Aeroespacial

The Daily Mirror reported that the fire “wreaked havoc at Heathrow,” leading to “over 200,000 travellers having their journeys cancelled or rerouted on Friday, March 21,” as the airport remained shut all day due to the inferno.

- Actualidad Aeroespacial

The Daily Mirror also quoted National Grid CEO John Pettigrew telling the Financial Times that Heathrow had enough power, saying that two backup substations were “always available for the distribution network companies and Heathrow to take power”.

Pettigrew’s position was that “There was no lack of capacity from the substations. Each substation individually can provide enough power to Heathrow,” and he added, “Losing a substation is a unique event - but there were two others available. So that is a level of resilience.”

Heathrow’s response, as relayed by the Daily Mirror, was that the incident was “unprecedented,” with a spokesperson remarking that Pettigrew had “never seen a transformer failure like this in his 30 years in the industry.”

The London Evening Standard added that the outage knocked out an electricity substation near “Europe’s busiest airport,” and it described the disruption as a fire crisis that forced the airport to close.

In the same account, the Standard said the airport sent a notice to air crew at “1.44am on Friday,” and that Thomas Woldbye’s deputy took the formal decision to close the airport in the early hours of Friday.

As the Heathrow outage unfolded, the London Evening Standard reported that No10 and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander declined to say they had confidence in Heathrow boss Thomas Woldbye after he reportedly “went to bed” amid the fire crisis.

The Standard quoted the Prime Minister’s official spokesman saying, “I don’t think it is for the Prime Minister to offer confidence in CEOs of private (companies).”

Daily Mirror

It also said Heathrow announced an internal review by Ruth Kelly, and that the government was “clear we must identify how this power failure happened and learn from it.”

Alexander, speaking earlier on LBC Radio, told the Standard that “Heathrow is a private company and it’s a matter for its own board who leads the company.”

The Standard described how Woldbye delegated the formal decision to close the airport to his deputy in the early hours of Friday, and it said Woldbye was at an event in central London when the power first went out after “11pm on Thursday.”

It reported that once the size of the incident became clear, senior leaders split into two “gold commands,” and that at “around 12.30am it was decided that Woldbye’s team would go to bed.”

The Standard further said that Heathrow Chief Operating Officer Javier Echave was left in charge and “he took the final decision to close the airport,” before the notice to air crew at “1.44am on Friday.”

The Standard also reported that Woldbye resumed work at “about 7.30am” and arrived at his office at “9am,” and it added that airline chiefs “such as Sean Doyle of British Airways and Shai Weiss of Virgin Atlantic are believed to have worked through the night.”

Heathrow’s own account of the outage response emphasized both the scale of the disruption and the limits of its backup systems, while other reporting put the passenger impact in different ranges.

“No10 and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander declined to say they had confidence in the Heathrow boss who reportedly went to bed instead of working through the night after a blaze knocked out an electricity substation near Europe’s busiest airport”

London Evening Standard

The London Evening Standard said Woldbye told reporters on Friday afternoon that “We are very sorry about all the inconvenience,” and he apologized to “the many people who have had their travel affected during the day today.”

The Standard quoted him saying, “We have lost power equal to that of a mid-sized city and our backup systems have been working as they should but they are not sized to run the entire airport.”

It stated that “Almost 300,000 passengers across more than 1,300 flights had their trips cancelled on Friday after the fire,” and it added that “Some 120 aircraft heading to the airport at that time were forced to either divert or return to their point of origin.”

The Standard described how the diversions affected passengers on board Qantas flights to Heathrow from Singapore and Perth, saying they “diverted to Paris before taking buses to London.”

The Daily Mirror, by contrast, reported “over 200,000 travellers having their journeys cancelled or rerouted on Friday, March 21,” and it said the airport remained shut all day due to the inferno.

The Standard also included a Heathrow spokesperson’s rebuttal to the Sunday Times, saying, “We do not recognise the description of proceedings as set out in the Sunday Times,” and it argued that Heathrow had “a robust crisis protocol that ensures we have experienced leaders able to take key decisions having had adequate rest - without compromising passenger or colleague safety by being too tired.”

In that same statement, the spokesperson said, “This protocol was followed so that Thomas, and his whole senior leadership team, were exactly where they were supposed to be during an incident of this scale.”

Britain’s government moved quickly to commission an investigation into the Heathrow-area power outage, with Energy Secretary Ed Miliband ordering the Independent System Operator for the National Energy System (NESO) to urgently investigate and report initial findings within six weeks.

The Actualidad Aeroespacial report said Miliband was exercising powers under the Energy Act to formally initiate the investigation “in collaboration with Ofgem, Britain's independent energy regulator,” and it described the inquiry as aimed at building “a clear picture of the circumstances surrounding this incident and the UK's energy resilience more generally.”

- Actualidad Aeroespacial

It quoted Miliband saying, “The power outage in the Heathrow area has caused serious disruption to thousands of people and numerous businesses,” and he added, “We are determined to properly understand what happened and the lessons we must learn.”

The same report quoted Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander saying, “this incident caused a significant disruption, but Heathrow, National Grid, and our emergency services have worked quickly to get people traveling again,” and it emphasized that “it is imperative that we identify how this power outage occurred and learn from it to ensure that a vital part of the national infrastructure remains resilient.”

Ofgem’s Director of Infrastructure, Akshay Kaul, said, “yesterday we witnessed the enormous disruption that occurs when energy supply is interrupted,” and he argued that “Homes and businesses must be able to rely on the resilience of the national critical infrastructure.”

Kaul added, “To the extent the review finds any breaches of the rules or license obligations, we will not hesitate to take action.”

The report also quoted NESO Chief Executive Fintan Slye saying, “NESO welcomes the government-commissioned inquiry to review the Heathrow-area power outage,” and it said, “We will now work with all stakeholders to understand the lessons that can be drawn to improve the future resilience of the UK energy system.”

In the London Evening Standard, Alexander’s account to MPs included that the Energy Secretary commissioned the independent National Energy System Operator (Neso) to urgently investigate, and that “Neso has been asked to report back to Desnz (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) with initial findings within six weeks.”

The dispute over what caused the Heathrow shutdown sharpened into competing narratives about capacity, resilience, and whether prior warnings were heeded, with different outlets emphasizing different aspects of the same incident.

“Heathrow Airport slams National Grid boss who claims it had 'enough power' despite shutdown The National Grid CEO John Pettigrew said Heathrow Airport had enough power to avoid Friday's shutdown, but the airport has hit back saying it was an 'unprecedented incident' Heathrow Airport chiefs have clapped back at the National Grid CEO's claims, insisting that despite assertions of sufficient power from alternate substations, Friday's shutdown was unavoidable”

Daily Mirror

The Daily Mirror framed the clash as Heathrow “clapped back” at National Grid boss John Pettigrew, who said Heathrow had “enough power to avoid Friday's shutdown,” while Heathrow insisted the shutdown was “unprecedented” and unavoidable.

Daily Mirror

It quoted Heathrow’s spokesperson saying Pettigrew “has never seen a transformer failure like this in his 30 years in the industry,” and it added that “Hundreds of critical systems across the airport were required to be safely powered down and then safely and systematically rebooted.”

The Daily Mirror also described how the initial investigation was “spearheaded by Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism officers,” before they said the fire “is not believed to be suspicious,” with the “London Fire Brigade” taking over.

In the same report, the paper pointed to a 2014 Jacobs consultancy report, saying it “presciently identified the risks associated with power failures at Heathrow,” including a warning that “Even a brief interruption to electricity supplies could have a long-lasting impact as systems can take time to recover.”

The Daily Mirror further quoted Jacobs warning that electrical outages might disrupt “passenger, baggage and aircraft handling functions” and could result in “partial or total closures of terminals or even ground the entire airport operation to a halt.”

By contrast, the London Evening Standard quoted Woldbye’s explanation that “our backup systems have been working as they should but they are not sized to run the entire airport,” while the Daily Mirror highlighted Pettigrew’s claim that “Each substation individually can provide enough power to Heathrow.”

Together, the accounts set up a central question for the NESO review: whether the outage was a “unique event” involving substations, as Pettigrew argued, or a failure mode Heathrow said it had not previously seen, as its spokesperson described.