Business students build crisis-handling experience with Heathrow experts

They gained exclusive, first-hand insights into how one of the world’s busiest airports operates, sparking new ideas, boosting their learning, and inspiring future career paths.

And after hearing insights, case studies from Heathrow - as well as picking up some of the tools Heathrow staff use to make decisions - the students broke up into smaller groups for a hands-on session grappling with their own airport crisis!

“We gave the students in their little groups a scenario to go through,” said Craig Thomson, Senior Operational Resilience Manager at Heathrow.

“They had to work out what they would do in that scenario within that instant, and that could be anything from flooding to a cyber threat to a bomb threat.

“And at the end of the day, they came back to us and presented their findings and how they managed the incident, and more importantly, how they communicated with their stakeholders both internally and externally.’

Sara Yasin, BSc (Hons) International Business Management student, said “I've absolutely loved it. It's been really nice to do something a little bit different and get to see the practical elements to what we've been learning in class.

“We've been doing a module called operations management and to be able to do an activity like this, you get to see how operations work in real life, in a real industry, especially with a partner as big as Heathrow Airport.

“It's really exciting to see how you put things into practise and what real challenges they face every day.”

"Working with the Heathrow Airport Operations and Resilience team gave our Business Management students a unique chance to step into the shoes of industry professionals," said Sally Holland, Course Leader Business Management. "Seeing them apply theory to real‑time crisis scenarios was inspiring — they weren’t just learning, they were living the experience.

"What impressed me most was how they grew in confidence, collaboration, and communication throughout the day. These qualities will carry them forward into their future careers, and it’s exactly why partnerships like this matter in practice-led education."

Think you'd be cool in a crisis? Check out our business courses at www.solent.ac.uk/subjects/business-marketing-and-finance