Heathrow operator BAA has apologised for the shutdown before Christmas, but insists the snow disruption highlighted a need for change beyond the control of the airport.
Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA, said the industry must prepare for regular bouts of extreme weather.
Matthews told the annual convention of inbound travel association UKinbound the industry must address three issues: “First, how much snow do we prepare for? We prepared for 6cm – decided in discussion with all the operators at Heathrow – and two times that much fell.
“Second, when passengers are stranded, how do we look after them? How do we provide hotel bookings, re-book flights, re-unite people with their bags? We can’t fix these on our own.
“Third, we handle 100,000 departing passengers a day. When Heathrow’s capacity is drastically reduced, 94-95 airlines act in a free for all. We need someone with the authority to say ‘this flight is going, that one is not’, and we don’t have it.”
Matthews said he could not draw a line under the snow disruption until an inquiry into what happened, commissioned by BAA, reports in three to four weeks’ time.
But he sought to correct several common misconceptions. He said: “We did not run out of de-icer, although Paris Charles de Gaulle did. We did not say no to any offer of help, including troops. We did not suffer from a lack of investment due to a foreign owner – we are investing £1 billion a year. And we did not shut for five days – that is what it took all the airlines to get back to operating.”
Matthews denied skimping on spending was to blame for the failure to clear snow. “The cost of one lost day of operations is huge,” he said. “The costs of preparing for twice as much snow are not huge. The equation is not difficult.
“The question is about the right judgment. Heathrow saw 7cm of snow in an hour and that is extraordinary. It looks like we are becoming exposed to more extreme weather events.”