From what I recall, every senior manager at McDonalds has to spend one day per year on the kitchen floor, flipping burgers. Yes, people on $1m+ per year, shaking fries
I wouldn't expect senior management at Luton airport to be spending considerable amounts of time cleaning the toilets, but I would expect them to be on the customer-facing areas of the airport on a regular basis (even 1 hour per week would suffice) to see what's actually happening - and also be talking on a regular basis with the junior staff. Equally I would expect board level directors at an airline to be on a flight of their airline every now and again (e.g. every 3 months) - if only to remind themselves of how the company's product is delivered in the real world and see what could be done better. Simply by being visible to junior staff, the senior manager motivates the rest of the employees - i.e. lead from the front
Hiding away in the executive office suite usually leads to an out-of-touch manager who doesn't really understand their business. If a senior manager doesn't want to be on the notional shop floor because they're worried about health risks - then it's not suitable for the junior staff either