The loss of thousands of skilled workers during the pandemic has “scarred” the aviation industry, according to the head of Heathrow.
John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow chief executive, told the Airport Operators Association (AOA) conference in London on Tuesday: “A lot of people with 25-30 years’ experience left the industry and in the recovery phase we really needed those people.”
He said that with hindsight, “I wouldn’t take so much out if it happens again, even though you need to conserve cash.
“Pre-pandemic we had 75,000 people. We went down to 50,000.
“We’re up to 70,000 people now. We hired over 20,000 over the last months. We’ve trained them, but they don’t have the experience of those who left.
“You can’t replace 30 years of experience quickly.”
Holland-Kaye, who on Thursday announced his plan to leave Heathrow this year, argued: “When it came to it, we went from lockdown to flying very quickly.
“The challenge was to keep supply and demand in balance. We saw what happened at Amsterdam Schiphol and at some other airports and we could not have that at Heathrow.
“We had a cap [on passenger numbers] so that if you travelled through Heathrow, you had a good journey.”
Passenger numbers at Heathrow were capped at 100,000 a day through last summer, angering airline chiefs but producing a more stable operation through August after the disruption of the spring and early summer.
Schiphol suffered the worst disruption of any airport in Europe through last year.
Holland-Kaye insisted: “I’m confident if you fly through Heathrow this summer you’ll have a good experience.”
But he told the conference: “In France, airports had financial support from the government. Paris Charles de Gaulle did not have to cut back as much [as Heathrow] and was able to recover quicker.
“There is a cost to closing borders and to losing jobs in aviation. There will be some scarring on the sector. It’s important the government has a plan to protect aviation.”