Thomas Cook Goes Belly Up Stranding Passengers including in Cuba
HAVANA TIMES – The British government is executing Operation Matterhorn to rescue some 156,000 holidaymakers after the huge Thomas Cook Travel Co. went bust on Monday, reports the Daily Mail. The tourists to be flown home include an estimated 2,700 from three Cuban airports.
The first 15,000 tourists were repatriated on Monday on 61 flights. In all over 1,000 flights are planned in the coming two weeks. They will be flown from 52 airports in 18 countries notes the Daily Mail.
The Cuban airports involved are in Holguin, Jardines del Rey and Varadero.
Reuters reported that “flights by collapsed tour operator Thomas Cook’s TCG.L German subsidiary Condor were operating as normal and there is no need for a major repatriation mission, a spokesman for the German Aviation Association (BDL) said on Monday.”
The following is a list of the different countries and airports from which the travelers will be picked up and returned to Great Britain.
I guess Nick that the financial fallout being paid by the British taxpayer is why the Conservative government has already announced that an enquiry is to be held into the “rewards” the Thomas Cook directors awarded themselves. But doubtless they will have taken care to tuck their gains away where they cannot be retrieved. I note that the German government is bailing out Condor. Yes, capitalism has its flaws!
I recall Jowett Cars of Bradford in England, voluntarily ceasing production in 1952 because of the crippling 66.66% purchase tax imposed by the Attlee Labour government. An example of socialism taxing the “rich” and by so doing eradicating employment for skilled workers. Irrespective of whether it is rampant capitalism or dogmatic socialism, the employees take the hit. The Jowett brothers incidentally lived very modestly unlike many of today’s company directors.
in the US and Canada, the taxpayers paid heavily to bail out GM and Chrysler. I think the difficulty that faces politicians when major companies are failing, is whether to bail them out or not.
Correction due to some malfunctioning predictive technology:
It is unlikely that the culprits will be REQUIRED to compensate the taxpayer.
Prior to going bust, the bosses of this 175 year old company awarded themselves huge financial bonuses.
The bill for the fallout is paid largely by the British taxpayer.
It is unlikely that the bosses will be released to compensate the taxpayer.
It is a flaw in modern British capitalism that allows these bosses to get away with this.