Manchester Airport boss who got away from it all: Under-fire exec spotted near £1.2m Berkshire home

Manchester Airport’s outgoing boss Karen Smart has been seen for the first time since she quit over chaotic scenes that caused thousands of holidaymakers to miss their flights.

Mrs Smart, 55, was pictured behind the wheel of her £25,000 Mercedes convertible sports car driving near her five-bedroom Berkshire home.

She quit her role last week after staff shortages at Britain’s third busiest airport sparked queues at security and check-in desks lasting as long as seven hours.

Passengers stuck in line in stuffy confined areas caused some to vomit while children were reportedly forced to urinate in small plastic bags normally used to carry liquid items onto aircraft.

There have also been serious delays at baggage reclaim where piles of suitcases were left in terminals by fed up travellers who abandoned their belongings and instead headed home.

Mrs Smart stepped down on Tuesday after being in the post for the last two years.

She had come under fierce criticism from airport staff and passengers alike and had been due to meet Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester and members of the Unite union to explain the fiasco.

In a statement, Manchester Airports Group (MAG) said: ‘Having taken on the position at the start of the pandemic, she has decided now is the time to return to the south of England, where her family is based, to pursue fresh career opportunities.’

MailOnline approached Mrs Smart for comment at her £1.1million house near Wokingham, Berkshire, on Friday but she declined to say anything. She later left in her silver 2019 Mercedes Benz C200 AMG.

The staff shortages at Manchester Airport have been caused by a struggle to recruit staff made redundant after the pandemic shutdown of airports and travel.

Yet, the annual report of MAG, which also owns London Stansted and East Midlands airports, showed that pay for the group’s managers rose by £2.8millin to £12.2million in the year ending 31 March 2021 – the first 12 months of Covid when air travel slumped.

Mother-of-three Mrs Smart’s Facebook profile shows that last summer during the Covid pandemic she enjoyed a cruise in the Mediterranean aboard a private yacht.

She posted a series of photographs showing her with family and friends basking in the sunshine off Spain’s Balearic coastline.

The businesswoman also boasted of staying in a stunning villa overlooking the sea on the Greek island of Santorini last October.

A keen Manchester United fan, she posed for a photo with former captain Bryan Robson at Old Trafford last May. She is also a rugby supporter and regularly watches two of her elder sons play.

Ken O’Toole, the deputy chief executive of Manchester Airports Group, said the next four to six weeks would be a ‘difficult period’ for the airport, with some passengers facing queues of 60 to 90 minutes.

However, he said that passengers missing their flights as a result of huge queues last weekend were an ‘isolated incident’, adding 220 new staff had been recruited and were currently being trained to start work over the coming weeks.

In the meantime, he urged travellers to arrive three hours in advance to ensure they do not miss their flights around the Easter holidays.

Passengers travelling from Manchester Airport over the weekend reported a much more efficient experience now that Ms Smart had gone.

Adam Powell, 24, from Burnage, Manchester, who was travelling to Amsterdam, said: ‘She should have resigned weeks earlier because whoever has replaced her seems to have got things under control.   

‘I arrived around three hours before my flight but had no problems checking in. I was dreading it today but it’s been fine.

‘It is annoying that she’s been pulling a massive wage and clears off at the first sign of trouble.’

Paul and Helen Wright, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, were at terminal 2 to catch at flight to Doha, Qatar.

Roofer Paul, 52, said: ‘We arrived more than four hours before our flight because we were determined not to miss it. We are travelling to Australia to see family.

‘It has been relatively stress-free at the airport but I do feel for other passengers who missed flights earlier in the week.

‘The airport were blaming staff shortages but it couldn’t have come as a surprise that as soon as all restrictions were lifted, the airports would become busier.’

Teaching assistant Helen, 49, said: ‘They’ve had plenty of time to prepare for the return of passengers.

‘We’ve been lucky but it should have been handled better from the start.’

Meanwhile, Marcus Redman, 46, an IT consultant from Preston, Lancashire, was flying to his holiday home near Alicante, Spain.

He said: ‘I was expecting it to be chaos but staff seem to have it sorted.

‘It was the stress of not knowing what we would be met with when we arrived that was the worst bit.

‘It must be nice to be able to clear off down south and leave someone else to sort the mess out.’