“The first flight sent to rescue stranded Thomas Cook customers has taken off for home as the largest repatriation of British citizens since the Second World War began today.

The Boeing 747, plastered with the travel company's famous livery but operated by pilots and staff from US-based Atlas Air, took off from New York's JFK airport this morning and will land in Manchester at 5pm today.

Thomas Cook's 178-year history has ended in ignominy for its bosses today, who have been paid more than £20million in bonuses alone over the past five years - despite the business creaking under £1.7billion in debt and a £500million pension deficit.

Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom has called for an urgent inquiry into the collapse and the actions of its bosses, including its Swiss chief executive Peter Fankhauser, who pocketed £8.3million since taking over in 2014.

There were tears at Thomas Cook's Peterborough headquarters today as 9,000 UK staff lost their jobs and told they would not be paid this month after the world's oldest travel operator officially went bust at 2am.

Today a £100million taxpayer-funded fleet of 40 or more planes is heading to cities and resorts across Europe, America, north Africa and Asia to bring 160,000 Britons home from more than 50 destinations.

Britain's biggest peacetime repatriation effort, codenamed Operation Matterhorn, will see around 16,000 people flown back to UK airports every day with the backlog taking a fortnight to clear…”

https://mol.im/a/7493969

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Pipe Smoker,

WOW! That's a cluster of enormous magnitude.

RMD

20 million Pounds in bonuses to management over five years while the business was foundering? Chumps. American bosses can do that in a year.

Sad to see them go. I had no idea they were so old.

quote:

the largest repatriation of British citizens since the Second World War began today.

quote:

Britain's biggest peacetime repatriation effort, codenamed Operation Matterhorn....

A bit over dramatic there?

I don't know. Bringing back 160,000 stranded citizens at a rate of 16,000 a day is pretty epic. Especially since it is an unplanned operation.

Given the difference in size, that would be like the US having to repatriate nearly half a million people. Not insignificant

Eleventh-hour talks to save Britain's oldest travel operator fell apart last night as Government refused bail-out? With executive compensation like that, I suspect the Government would be reluctant to do so. It’s a shame those execs sleep at night after being compensated like that while their company fails.

I was going to say "this is why people should buy travel insurance." But now that I think about it, I've purchased Thomas Cook travel insurance in the past

quote:

... Swiss chief executive Peter Fankhauser, who pocketed £8.3million since taking over in 2014

quote:

... codenamed Operation Matterhorn

I see what they did there.

Tip of the iceberg!

quote:

Bringing back 160,000 stranded citizens at a rate of 16,000 a day is pretty epic

Is the British government, by this act, now insuring the cost of all travel for UK citizens in the event of a corporate breakdown?

It should say that UK taxpayers are subsidizing the return of these travelers, are they presuming that everyone of them is broke as the company that booked them? Why are the travelers not responsible for their own return,

I can see if someone is broke, but then again, people who are broke generally can't afford to book overseas travels in the first place.

^^^^Presumably the receiver of the company's assets (a government entity) will pay for the returns, and will reimburse itself from the assets of the company that are sold in bankruptcy. The company is insolvent, not penniless.

I don't understand. Has everyone paid up front in full? Will the receiver or whoever try to collect from them? Those are important questions that do need to be answered. Those that paid the company have presumably lost their return tickets, or at least the airfare. I assume the company has been operating at a loss. They sold the tickets and accomodations at a loss. The folks stuck at far flung places got a bargain, but maybe no so much. They've got to pay for their rooms now until they get a return flight. Its why I stay in the US and drive.

This thread is a fine example of the perfect thread title. Pithy, informative, to the point, while lacking any sensationalism. Bravo and well done!

^^^^^^^^
I thank you. Para gets some credit too.

I heard on the news today that at least one hotel was charging the Cook customers for their stay, since Cook wasn't paying.

The issue is these customers already paid Cook for the hotel, plus they were being charged by the hotel again, since Cook defaulted.

what a crapshow.

My niece used to be married to a guy whose family got rich from founding Air Tours in the UK; they later sold out, I believe, and Air Tours became part of Thomas Cook.
Our experience at watching this from a distance was that getting rich ruined the kids in the family including my niece’s husband, and perhaps their children.
The money was a magnet for other women, among other things.

It's not like anyone didn't see this coming...six months ago.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
It's not like anyone didn't see this coming...six months ago.

How many employees have you witnessed hoping beyond hope that things will turn around? And honestly, as long as the planes are still moving, how many passengers actually care about or consider airline finances and troubles? To the first question, I would answer a number that is very large, to the second, one that is very small.

Hell, I've known pilots who landed in Hong Kong or other spots around the world, only to learn that the company was bust, wages frozen, no ticket home. Pilots who showed up to find the doors chained shut. Pilots who were owed 70,000 by the company. One hasn't been around very long in aviation if one hasn't experienced a sudden closure, merger, downsizing, bankruptcy, etc. I think 80% of my old employers are gone, no longer exist. It's aviation.

"Hey, honey, great prices on our vacation to Phuket; bankrupt airline, teetering on the edge, no travel insurance, last-minute openings, no backup plan. What could go wrong?

Think of all the illegals they could have shipped home at the same time