Thomas Cook UK may fold this week

[MarkW 1,490]

I was thinking about it this morning when I heard the news that would it not be cheaper and more efficient for the government to float TC a short term loan to keep running while they bring everyone home rather than have to scramble and figure out how to get everyone back with other airlines ?  

[lownslo 592]

12 hours ago, Anders Bermann said:

But then again, it's the usual cry-out when these sorts of things happen... 😕
The 'Big-Bad-Corporation' is always stepping on the 'Little-People'.

Of course, it's a sad tendency... No-ones at fault for their own situation! There's always someone else to blame for it.

Isn't that a bit over-simplified?  This has nothing to do with "Big-Bad-Corporation always stepping on the Little-People".  This is about business... nothing more, nothing less.

Thomas Cook is now done... thru their own failures and poor business management.  This is nothing new for TC... it has been going on for many years, indeed many decades.  And in the end TC will end as it should... dissolved and gone for the vultures to pick over.  That's the way business is, and that's the way it should be.

Ten years ago many banks like RBS were facing dissolution/bankruptcy/insolvency for much the same reasons... their own failures and poor business management.  Yet because a government had deemed some of those banks "too big to fail" they received massive amounts of money from the (unwilling) taxpayers.  Now today, a bank like RBS is sitting on a great deal of debt from TC, and as well is still using mountains of the taxpayer money from 10 years ago to make their own balance sheet look better than, well Thomas Cook's.

The simple reality is that it's far better to be a banker, than... anything else.  Especially a taxpayer!

Greg

[HighBypass 2,339]

7 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

....he will have to give up spotting (at Manchester) if this carries on....

LOL!

As long as there is cargo needing to go from country to country in a timely manner then there will be cargo planes to spot.. 😉

[Captain Kevin 586]

14 hours ago, jon b said:

After landing the TC flights were being shut down and towed onto remote stands

So they landed, shut down on the taxiway, and got towed to the ramp?

[dmwalker 601]

I think they taxi to the regular gates or stands to offload the passengers then they are towed to the remote stands. That's how it looks on FR24.

[188AHC 2,138]

I don't know much about TC but I truly hate to see this happen. As is always the case, the employees and customers suffer. Many families are being affected by this and they have my sympathies. 

[Greggy_D 935]

Wow.  The company was 178 years old.

[Matthew Kane 1,343]

2 hours ago, Greggy_D said:

Wow.  The company was 178 years old.

Yes I was surprised by that too, when they first started out they were booking railroad excursions. That's a lot of history lost right there. 

[Christopher Low 5,332]

It looks like Thomas Cook Scandinavia has survived, and flights have apparently resumed today.

Edited September 24, 2019 by Christopher Low

[fluffyflops 1,845]

It was the ill fated merger with My Travel MYT back in 2007 that was the first and by far the biggest nail in the coffin. The debt that came with MYT proved to be unsustainable and since then the management have spent far too much time and playing the equivalent of twister with the banks. But no matter how much they twisted the debt was still there. Since the merger TC has paid over one billion in fees and interest payments. That left virtually no cash for the investment required to keep up with the competition in a rapidly changing market.

 

[fluffyflops 1,845]

Virgin have just offered jobs to the cabin crew and retail staff. 

Our partner airline flybe has offered jobs to the pilots for connect. 

We also flew home quite a few stranded crews stuck in the US and Caribbean last night and the night before.  For free

Worth noting is the crooks at BA refused to pax home the tcx crew stranded downroute and thought they would charge them 1000 quid per seat for the pleasure.  

Edited September 24, 2019 by fluffyflops

[fluffyflops 1,845]

https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/travel/4758826/british-airways-demanded-10000-each-from-stranded-thomas-cook-crew-to-take-empty-seats-on-flight/

 

BA... Enough said 

[n4gix 4,947]

Well, to be entirely fair, BA did change their stance and have begun being proactive in repatriating stranded crew. I have to assume that the outrage in public media sort of forced their hands...

On a side note, on that linked story there was a rather hilarious featured story and video about a forgotten item left behind in a Vegas crew hotel room...

[W2DR 1,859]

My wife and I are among the stranded. We flew from Orlando, Florida, to Frankfurt via Manchester on the 6th. It was a little disquieting to learn this past Monday that TCX was no more. But not to worry....we’ve booked a one-way flight from FRA to MCO on Delta. And all for the low price of just over USD$5,000. Ticket prices here in Germany have increased 400-500% on all airlines. What a deal..........Doug

[188AHC 2,138]

Wow. That's highway robbery. Nothing like taking advantage of people, huh Delta.