When Chaos Strikes: How TMCs Navigated the Heathrow Power Outage & How Technology Can Help

A major power outage at Heathrow Airport last week led to travel chaos, with thousands of cancelled flights, stranded passengers, and disrupted itineraries. For Travel Management Companies (TMCs), this meant an immediate need to spring into action — working tirelessly behind the scenes to rescue travel plans, reassure clients, and find alternatives in an already stretched industry.

Behind the Scenes: How TMCs Keep Travellers Moving in a Crisis

When large-scale disruptions hit, TMCs become the unsung heroes of the travel industry. In the wake of Heathrow’s outage, TMC teams would have been:

Identifying affected bookings — sifting through flight lists and customer records to determine who was impacted.
Reaching out to travellers proactively, providing reassurance and alternative travel solutions.
Searching for new flights, trains, or accommodation while managing airline policies, refunds, and rebooking complexities.
Juggling multiple communication channels — from email and phone calls to GDS systems and supplier updates.
Managing a surge in enquiries — with already stretched teams handling an overwhelming number of requests.

This level of responsiveness is what sets TMCs apart, ensuring their travellers experience minimal disruption in moments of maximum stress. But with limited resources and high volumes of manual work, the burden on TMCs can be immense. That’s where technology comes in.

How AI-Powered Automation Eases the Burden

At Lokulus, we understand the pressure TMCs face in these high-stakes moments. AI-driven platforms are built to ease this burden, giving teams the tools they need to act quickly, decisively, and efficiently. Here’s how smart automation could have helped TMCs navigate the Heathrow outage more smoothly:

Automated GDS Queue Monitoring – Instead of manually checking for cancelled flights, a workflow automation platform can integrate with GDS queues, automatically flagging affected bookings and triggering next steps. This reduces missed updates and enables faster rebooking.
Smart Email & Enquiry Management – With automated routing, customer emails and queries are prioritised and assigned based on urgency, ensuring stranded travellers get support faster — without overwhelming teams.
Smart Work Distribution – In a crisis, teams can quickly become overwhelmed. Automated work distribution ensures enquiries are allocated efficiently across teams—whether in the same office or spread across multiple locations. By balancing workloads and routing tasks based on capacity and expertise, TMCs can maintain seamless service without overloading individual consultants.
Real-Time Data & SLA Performance Insights – Speed matters, not just for travellers but for corporate clients who rely on TMCs to deliver value. Real-time reporting provides instant visibility into response times, resolution rates, and service performance — demonstrating the impact of exceptional support. By tracking SLAs and identifying bottlenecks early, TMCs can uphold high service standards even under pressure.
Proactive Customer Engagement – Rather than waiting for travellers to reach out, AI-powered workflow automation enables automated outbound notifications to inform customers of flight status updates, alternative options, and next steps — keeping them reassured and reducing inbound queries.

Happier Travellers, Stronger TMCs

When chaos hits, TMCs who deliver seamless, proactive service become the true heroes — and customers remember. Travellers will always sing the praises of the TMC that turned their nightmare into a manageable inconvenience. Investing in automation doesn’t just lessen the stress for TMC teams — it strengthens relationships, enhances reputation, and builds customer loyalty.

With technology like Lokulus, TMCs can focus on what they do best — delivering exceptional service in the moments that matter most.

Want to see how automation can transform your TMC’s crisis response and day-to-day efficiency? Let’s chat.