Avanti has announced that its chief executive, Phil Whittingham, has decided to resign, effective September 15, when the next in a series of strikes will further hit its business. Owners are understood to be considering a range of options and other senior business executives are also understood to be in the line of fire. Avanti, a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia, cut its routes last month, leaving just one train an hour instead of three between London and Manchester. The move was hailed by Avanti as a way to run a more predictable service after widespread delays and cancellations, but has sparked outrage, with Labor and Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham calling for their contract to be scrapped. Whittingham inflamed industrial relations at the company by blaming the problems on an “unofficial strike” by drivers – a claim which the Aslef union denounced as an outright lie. Aslef welcomed news of the changes. General secretary Mick Whelan said: “The managing director of Avanti West Coast has left because he lied about informal industrial action. We look forward to working with the new MD. There is now an opportunity for passengers and staff to move on to a better future.” Whittingham, who moved to Avanti as chief executive from Virgin when the company took over operation of the West Coast Main Line from Richard Branson’s company, earned £273,000 in the role and has spent more than 23 years in various roles at the railway . Steve Montgomery, FirstGroup rail chief executive, who is also leading the industry on pay negotiations in the rail dispute, will step in to “provide executive leadership support” to Avanti. Montgomery said Whittingham left Avanti “with the team ready for the challenges of delivering future service requirements.” Whittingham did not respond to requests for comment. The action comes after growing public anger at the service, with Avanti garnering more complaints than any other train operator over the past two years, even before the recent fallout. Avanti employs several hundred drivers, but relies on their goodwill to work overtime to run full schedules. Subscribe to Business Today Get ready for the business day – we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Transport secretary Grant Shapps had backed Whittingham’s view that “unofficial strike action” – the refusal of drivers to volunteer for extra shifts – was to blame for the poor service. Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Hay said Avanti had caused travel misery for millions and Shapps had failed to hold them to account. He added: “If the government had any interest in doing its job, it would finally stand up for passengers, refund taxpayers’ money for services not performed, remove the contract from the operator and put in place an emergency plan to restore the timetable”. The company paid out £11m in dividends last year to its shareholders, which are 70% FirstGroup and 30% Italian state-owned company Trenitalia. Unions with members working for Avanti voted overwhelmingly in favor of strikes and the service will stop again in two weeks when drivers walk out for 24 hours on September 15 as part of wider industrial action. RMT train staff will also walk out as part of the national row. A third union, the TSSA, on Friday called for more strikes specifically at Avanti, highlighting the problems facing the operator. Union station staff will walk out with the RMT on September 15 and 17.
