What happened?

On Monday, September 23 2019, the world’s oldest travel tourism company went bankrupt, leaving around 600,000 Thomas Cook customers stranded on vacation (of whom around 150,000 were British). The 178-year-old company was unable to secure the outstanding £200 million that was required to keep the business afloat. Following a weekend of meetings with the company’s largest shareholders and creditors, when this sum was established, the company went under. UK Government officials have voiced concern that this could possibly become “Britain’s biggest peacetime repatriation,” as transporting all the stranded citizens of the country could cost the UK up to £60 million. As many as 9,000 British employees, as well as 21,000 of other members of staff are now facing the possible consequences of losing their jobs after the company declares bankruptcy.

What to know:

Travelers who are currently stranded because all Thomas Cook flights and vacations were cancelled effective immediately, will be transported home through other means. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has now launched an operation (codenamed Operation Matterhorn) to fly back all UK travelers who were stranded abroad as a result of the Thomas Cook collapse. Around forty jumbo jets have been put into practice for transportation, and this operation should be complete before the end of October 6th 2019.

Travelers who have future holidays booked with Thomas Cook should be expecting a full refund, as all Thomas Cook holiday packages are ATOL-protected, which is a requirement of all UK travel companies that sell trips and flights to clients.

About Thomas Cook:

Thomas Cook was founded in Market Harborough in 1841, by businessman Thomas Cook, as a company that organized railway trips for members of the local temperance movement. With time, the company grew to become the world’s largest global travel company with annual sales of £9 billion, 19 million customers per year, 22,000 employees, and operations in 16 countries worldwide.