Thomas Cook Group plc, the oldest travel company in the United Kingdom, has unfortunately come to an entrepreneurial halt and officially ceased trading after 178 years of travel service on the 23rd of September 2019, after being declared bankrupt. Thomas Cook’s chief executive, Peter Frankhauser, said that the company had entered requisite liquidation and that the firm’s collapse was a matter of profound regret.
What went wrong?
One of the major reasons the company collapsed was because it couldn’t get a rescue deal with investors and creditors to find an additional $200 million in order to survive in the industry. According to reports, Thomas cook also approached the government in a bid to financially secure themselves. However, the motive was not successful.
What if I have booked with Thomas Cook?
As a result of the Thomas Cook group shutting down, all the holidays provided by these companies have also been cancelled and are no longer operating. As abrupt and sad as it is, your next step as a traveller would be to get in touch with an agency like Travel Center and plan on rebooking your holiday.
What Happens if you have a future holiday booking with Thomas Cook?
If you have a future booking and have not travelled yet, first check if your Thomas Cook flight is ATOL protected, if it is, then you can make a claim for a refund through ATOL’s scheme. Your refund will be invoiced once the CAA successfully completes the current matter at hand, which is to bring back all UK travellers home safely. However, if you have booked a holiday through an agency or a company that is not a part of the Thomas Cook group, then your chances of getting a refund might be dire. You cannot make a claim through ATOL’s scheme but you may be able to get a refund from your travel insurer or your credit card issuer.
What happens to all the employees?
While there are about 600,000 Thomas Cook customers on holiday around the world eagerly awaiting information on how they will get home, 2,000 workers have been sadly made redundant. Over the course of this unfortunate event, several employees have taken their devastation over losing their job to social media and have expressed how hard it was to learn that they lost their dream jobs. However, dedicated Thomas Cook’s staff have still come in to work as of today and are still looking forward to helping customers with any questions.
