Hancock ‘had contempt’ for airlines and passengers
MATT HANCOCK has been accused of “breathtaking contempt” for passengers and airline staff by the former boss of British Airways after deriding the travel industry during the Covid crisis.
Willie Walsh, former head of BA’S parent company, hit out after Whatsapp texts leaked to The Daily Telegraph revealed a jibe by the then heath secretary at “self-serving” airlines.
Mr Walsh, now head of the industry’s trade body Iata, attacking messages making light of travel lockdowns and the economic collapse of the airline industry, added: “Far from being ‘self-serving’, airlines were rightly questioning the scientific rationale for the stop-start testing and quarantine measures which caused misery for millions.
“We were inundated with heartbreaking stories of families kept apart by cruel and unjustified quarantines.”
Details released as part of the
Telegraph Lockdown Files reveal then health secretary Mr Hancock’s anger at the aviation industry for opposing travel restrictions in February 2021.
He said: “The airlines and airports are totally offside. Completely unhelpful. Don’t get that there’s a war on. And of course v hard for them as they’re going bust.”
Simon Case, the then Cabinet secretary, responded: “Yes, tough for them, but they are just so horribly selfserving. I can’t summon much sympathy for them any more when I see them.”
Agreeing with him, Mr Hancock replied: “Quite.”
Mr Walsh, who ran BA and its successor parent IAG between 2005 and 2020, was among the biggest critics of travel restrictions such as flight bans, Covid testing and quarantines. A fierce debate continues to rage about whether a crackdown on travel had any impact on the spread of the virus.
The Covid pandemic continues to cast a long shadow over the aviation industry. Most of the travel disruption last year has been attributed to staffing shortages after airlines and airports were forced to sack staff to stay afloat.
BA laid off 10,000 and 2.3m are estimated to have lost their jobs globally.
Mr Walsh said: “While ministers joked on Whatsapp and had parties at No10, travel and tourism businesses went to the wall. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were put at risk. Lives and livelihoods meant nothing to these people.
“The Telegraph’s story shows it is essential that the inquiry into Covid decision-making gets to the bottom of the reasons why the science was so politicised. More importantly, lessons must be learned so that better decisions are taken when the next health crisis emerges.”