Thomas Cook went bust

Overview
Thomas Cook Group plc was a British global travel group. It was formed on 19 June 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG (itself the successor to Thomas Cook & Son) and MyTravel Group. The group operated in two separate segments: a tour operator and an airline. On 23 September 2019 Thomas Cook went into compulsory liquidation.

Thomas Cook was listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The Thomas Cook Group ceased trading on 23 September 2019 and entered liquidation. Around 21,000 worldwide employees were left without jobs (including 9,000 UK staff) and 600,000 customers (150,000 from the UK) were left abroad, triggering the UK's largest peacetime repatriation.

On 9 October 2019, independent travel agent Hays Travel announced that it had acquired all 555 former Thomas Cook travel agencies in the UK, and planned to re-employ a "significant number" of former employees.

Historical background
Thomas Cook (22 November 1808 – 18 July 1892) was an English businessman. He is best known for founding the now liquidated travel agency Thomas Cook & Son.

Thomas Cook Group plc (19 June 2007 - 23 September 2019) was a British global travel group. It was formed on 19 June 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG (itself the successor to Thomas Cook & Son) and MyTravel Group. The group operated in two separate segments: a tour operator and an airline.

Thomas Cook was listed on both the London Stock Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The company ceased trading on 23 September 2019 after being declared financially insolvent.

Package holiday expertise
Package holidays became the in thing in the 1970s and Thomas Cook and Thompson took the lead in the UK. The 1980s saw the the rise of the UK advertising slogan "Don't just book it, Thomas Cook it!".

Thomas Cook acquired Flying Colours for £57.5m, the parent firm of the youth-centric Club 18-30 (which had a then recent history of securing 70-80,000, customers a year) and several other lesser holiday firms. Club 18-30 was subsequently incorporated into Thomas Cook’s JMC (John Mason Cook) brand of travel companies which included the operating brands Flying Colours, Sunworld, Sunset, Inspirations and Caledonian Airways.

The bought out Airtours in 1999. Airtours was a British tour operator specialising in package holidays throughout Europe, as well as in parts of North America and the Caribbean. It was a subsidiary of the British Thomas Cook Group, until the group's demise on September 23, 2019. Airtours holidays were sold on their own website, the Thomas Cook website and in Thomas Cook Travel Agents.

Airtours’ origins can be traced back to Lancashire, United Kingdom. From 1972 onwards, travel agent David Crossland began purchasing numerous small agencies across the region. The business expanded gradually throughout the 1970s, but growth accelerated rapidly when the operator began offering package holidays during the 1980s. They offered their first charter flights to the Caribbean in 1987 for just £299.

The business was restructured and brought under the newly-formed MyTravel Group plc in May 2002. Airtours International Airways was rebranded as MyTravel Airways, while the Airtours Holidays brand continued to trade within the group.

In June 2007, MyTravel Group plc and Thomas Cook AG merged.

It was announced on September 23rd, 2019 that Airtours parent company Thomas Cook Group had entered into compulsory liquidation and as such Airtours also ceased to trade on the same date.

Condor Airlines made a big profit and saved the firm in 2006.

They bought out Gong Places in 2007.


 *  Their web page stated in 2019: 

"Holidays are a chance to escape the everyday, enjoy new experiences and indulge in relaxation with your family and friends. Trust us to make your holiday truly special.

''As holiday experts with 178 years’ experience, we have the perfect escape for you, no matter what you’re looking for. Whether you’re into adventure or you just like lazing by the pool, you’ll find it all here at great prices.''

''There are no compromises to be made on a Thomas Cook holiday. Choose the holiday type that’s perfect for you; we have All Inclusive holidays, cheap holidays, cruise deals, beach breaks, family holidays and plenty more available to suit all budgets."''

"Thomas Cook Hotels & Resorts is the hotel division of Thomas Cook. Under its eight brands are 200 hotels across 47 destinations. With more than 38,000 rooms and 9.2 million room nights, it is among the top 40 hotel companies in the world."

Recent purchases
They bought out Gong Places in 2007, Co-Opp Travel in 2010 and both Hotels4You and MyTravel in 2019.

It was announced in 2010, that Co-op Group Travel 1 Ltd. and Midlands Co-op Travel Ltd. would merge with the retail branches of Thomas Cook. The joint venture did not include the latter's tour operating arm, which remained wholly within the Thomas Cook Group.

Corporate turnover
The UK branch generated £3,000,000,000 in turnover during 2018.

Operations
Thomas Cook Group employed approximately 21,000 staff worldwide, with 9,000 in the United Kingdom.

Tour operators
Thomas Cook India, which was sold to Fairfax Financial in 2012, continues to operate normally.

Hotel chains
Thomas Cook Hotels and Resorts was a hotel chain owned by the Thomas Cook Group and operated by Thomas Cook Tour Operations. They operated under independent brands to represent what each cater for, numerous owned by the Thomas Cook Group and others which were franchise agreements with independent hotels, the majority of hotels were located in Europe and primarily countries within the EU.

Thomas Cook to open 20 own-brand hotels by end of 2019, including 6 in Spain, four in Greece and three in Turkey.

Aviation
The Thomas Cook Group's airline division operated as one operating segment, the Thomas Cook Group Airlines (TCGA).

Thomas Cook Group Airlines Limited was an airline Holding company of the defunct British Thomas Cook Group. The airlines operated as a single operating segment of the Thomas Cook Group to allow aircraft to be used when and where they are needed. There were five members of the airline division at the time of the airline's closing, consisting of Condor, Thomas Cook Airlines, Thomas Cook Airlines Balearics, Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, and Thomas Cook Aviation. The airline operated with a total of 105 aircraft based in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Germany.

In 2013 the CEO of Thomas Cook Group, Harriet Green, merged the British Thomas Cook Airlines, Danish Thomas Cook Airlines Scandinavia, German Condor, and the now-defunct Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium into one single operating segment, and the closing of Thomas Cook Airlines Canada.

The United Kingdom's Civil Aviation Authority announced on 23 September 2019 that the group had gone into liquidation. While the British subsidiary Thomas Cook Airlines ceased operations immediately, all the other remaining airline branches continued to operate.

Causes of it's collapse

 * 1) Preditory UK bankss.
 * 2) Bad purchases in 2010 and a near bankruptcy in 2011.
 * 3) A outdated business model.
 * 4) Brexit uncertainty in general.
 * 5) Hevy competition from ABNB, TUI, Ryanair, Easy Jet and Wizz Air.
 * 6) UK economic decline since the Credit Crunch.
 * 7) To many high street stores.
 * 8) A poor online presence until it was to late.
 * 9) International terror was particularly bad in 2016 and put people of traveling in 2017.
 * 10) The 2018 European heat wave caused a lot of people th holaday in the UK (a 'staycation').
 * 11) The 15% post-Brexit referendum fiasco put people off going abroad.
 * 12)  VERY HIGH DEBT SINCE 2011!!! 
 * 13) £2.1bn in det, which they cut to £1.7bn wth days to go.
 * 14) The Chinese firm Bosen put £900m in to the firm with 2 days to remain.
 * 15) The UK government refused to help Thomas Cook, saying the firm was a wast of money.
 * 16) The UK banks wanted to raise there security deposit from £200m to £250m with 1 day to go.
 * 17) The boss gave himself a major pay bonus in 2019.
 * 18) Percasing MyTravel inflicted £1.1bn of it's £1.5bn 2019 accrued debt.
 * 19) To many high street stores.

Frank Meysman, the Dutch Non-Executive Chairman, and Peter Fankhauser, the Swiss CEO, were blamed by British Europhobes for the collapse since they were not British. Many people in the UK accused them of being fat cats.

The last flight
The last Thomas Cook flight was early on September 23rd, 2019 (UK time). It was from Orlando to Manchester.

20,000 staff in 16 nations, including 9,000 in the UK lost thire jobs when the firm folded.

Operation Matterhorn
Shortly afterwards a Malaysian Airways jet chartered by the CAA to repatriate stranded tourists in Singapore and Malaysia landed there shortly afterwards.

Atlas Air, Easyjet and Virgin Atlantic start to repatriate the 155,000 UK nationals from 145 locations in 55 counties.

Virgin Atlantic, Jet2 and a couple of other lesser UK operators are accused of Price gouging by some tourists.

It cost the UK government a grand total of £100,000,000.

Foreigners in the UK were left to make thire own way back to thire home nations.

Tourists are made to pay extra and\or attacked
Tourists are forced in some places to pay frightened Tunisians hoteliers ~£2,000 before they could leave because the Tunisians thought Thomas Cook would not pay up. Some Cubans made similar claims, but no money was actually taken.

Spanish hoteliers in La Palma and Tenerife were attacked by hotel staff, robbed, forced to pay ~£1,000 ransom money each and locked in there rooms or thrown out on the streets.

Compensation
ATOL and ABTA would cover return flights, extended hotel stays and other related costs for stranded tourists.

Those who are yet to travel and foreigners stranded in the UK will get nothing as of right, but can try to call on thire travel insurance and bank to intervene, but if they do it will be late and miniscule nue to the mass of claimants involved.

Collateral damage
Thomas Cook’s collapse will hit the small and regional airportsit used  the hardest. Algarve, Spanish, Portugese, Cuban and Tunisian hotels will suffer badly as well.

Litigation
100 Thomas Cook staff to take legal action over being owed 7 weeks pay, paying for alternate flights home and the managers apparent plundering the firm with a high bonus culture. A modest protest by jobless staff in Manchester calls on the government to give them fiscal help.

Bosses wages
In their entire working time these people erned in wages and bones about:
 * Manello Fontinella-Novoa: £17,000,000
 * Harriet Green: £10,000,000
 * Frank Frankhousen £8,500,000

Former destinations

 * 1) Algarve
 * 2) Antalya
 * 3) Antigua
 * 4) Barbados
 * 5) Balearic Islands
 * 6) Benidorm
 * 7) Bodrum
 * 8) Bulgaria
 * 9) California
 * 10) Caribbean
 * 11) Canary Islands
 * 12) Cancun
 * 13) Cape Verde
 * 14) Corfu
 * 15) Costa del Sol
 * 16) Crete
 * 17) Croatia
 * 18) Cuba
 * 19) Cyprus
 * 20) Dalaman
 * 21) Dominican Republic
 * 22) Dubai
 * 23) Egypt
 * 24) Florida
 * 25) Fuerteventura
 * 26) Gambia
 * 27) Gran Canaria
 * 28) Greece
 * 29) Hurghada
 * 30) Ibiza
 * 31) India
 * 32) Italy
 * 33) Izmir
 * 34) Jamaica
 * 35) Kefalonia
 * Kos
 * 1) Lanzarote
 * 2) Lapland
 * 3) Las Vegas
 * 4) Los Angeles
 * 5) Majorca
 * 6) Maldives
 * 7) Malta
 * 8) Marrakech
 * 9) Mauritius
 * 10) Menorca
 * 11) Mexico
 * 12) Morocco
 * 13) Orlando
 * 14) Portugal
 * 15) Red Sea Riviera
 * 16) Rhodes
 * 17) Santorini
 * 18) Sanya
 * 19) Spain
 * 20) Sri Lanka
 * 21) St Lucia
 * 22) Tenerife
 * 23) Thailand
 * 24) Thassos
 * 25) Tunisia
 * 26) Turkey
 * USA
 * 1) Zante

The surviving fragments

 * 1) German Wings (Not to be confused with Germanwings).
 * 2) Hotels4you.
 * 3) A smattering of Dutch assets.
 * 4) A smattering of Swiss assets.
 * 5) A smattering of Spanish assets.
 * 6) Thomas Cook (Scandinavia).
 * 7) A few Portugues hotels they had.

Buy out bid
All the 555 Thomas Cook shops were bought by rival 40 year old family firm on 09\10\2019, Hays Travel, saving up to 2,500 jobs.

The independent Sunderland based travel will move into areas where it had little or no high street presence, including Scotland and Wales.

Another firm died a wile earlier
LateRooms.com was a hotel reservations website providing discounted accommodation throughout the UK, Europe and the rest of the world. On the 1st of August 2019 LateRooms.com announced they had ceased trading via Twitter and a message on their website. LateRooms.com's website offered a choice of over 200,000 hotels.

Malvern Group folded taking Super break and LateRooms,com with it on 0 1/08/2019.

Also see

 * 1) 23/09/2019 UK alert
 * 2) 28/09/2019 UK alert