The Demise Of Thomas Cook – 26th September 2019

This week saw the unfortunate demise of one of the first truly global tour operators, Thomas Cook. Founded in 1841, Thomas Cook was one of the first companies to offer the true package holiday.

On Sunday night it was touch and go there was a lot of press speculation and a lot of incorrect information flying round on the internet. A few posts on social media led to the belief that the company had already fell on the Sunday, leading to a lot of unhappy staff flying back from resort on flights or on their outbounds.

Emotions were high and what wasn’t needed was scammers praying on the vulnerable and offering them their money back for their Thomas Cook package and all they would need is their credit card details.

Bonuses

One of the things I have seen on socials and having been asked personally is should the directors of the company give their bonuses back. I’m rarely one to sit on the fence but as the public we don’t know the negotiations in place for the senior managements at these conglomerates. If someone has been brought on board to improve the companies position, then they are entitled to the money. At the end of the day if, for instance someone is tasked to prevent the company making anymore than a £100 million loss for 2018 and they succeed they have achieved their incentive goal and they deserve the money. At the end of the day a board is in ultimate control of the company and the CEO reports to them. If the board is made up of major shareholders then a chairman will ultimately hold a vote against a CEO.

The failure of Thomas Cook isn’t down to one man but is rather down to an oversaturated market with too many seats running on the same routes. There is a big pie for travel and a a lot more airlines wanting a piece of it.

Future

The boom of the internet market really impacted travel and we cant keep on using it as an excuse for the slowing down of the leisure travel market. There are foreign invaders onto the market offering insanely cheap deals to the UK market, without protection and without paying UK corporation tax. This is something that will result in another failure but this is still to come! After the collapse of the Monarch Group, ATOL reform was researched an a 109 page document produced, however the current administration hasn’t implemented its recommendations.

Brett Gerrett

General Manager

Isleworth Travel Management are interested in speaking with EX Thomas Cook employees and have a number of positions available to staff seeking a new role. Please contact us at careers.uk@isleworthtravel.com