BAA, the troubled airport operator, has lost another senior director as strike action by half its British work-force threatens Christmas travel chaos.

Greg Ward, the operations director at Heathrow, has quit to join another company. He will leave BAA after Terminal 5 opens in March.

Mr Ward’s resignation is the latest to have hit BAA. Tony Douglas, Heathrow’s chief executive, quit in June and Stephen Baxter, BAA’s chief operating officer, departed after just six weeks in October. Others who have left recently include Peter Blausten, head of human resources; Duncan Bonfield, director of corporate affairs; and Mark Mann, head of media relations.

A BAA spokesman said: “Mr Ward has been with us since 2004 and is leaving to pursue new challenges.”

Mr Ward was not available for comment.

The departures of senior members of staff have come as BAA is facing criticism over the poor standard of its airports, particularly Heathrow, and for long check-in and security queues. The company, owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, now faces another challenge as 6,000 members of the Unite union are being balloted on strike action scheduled for the Christmas holidays.

Union members, who include airport firefighters, security, maintenance and clerical staff, are complaining about BAA’s decision to close its final-salary pension scheme to new employees. If members vote for a strike. it will start on December 27. BAA said it was working on a contingency plan to cope with industrial action.

Times Recommends

• US stocks fall below 9,000 mark
• House price fall smallest in seven months
• Wary investors opt to keep cash in safes