[CaptainCrunch]

The big story today is the collapse of Thomas Cook Airlines leaving hundreds of thousands stranded and killing 21,000 jobs


https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/22/busin...pse/index.html

New York (CNN Business)British tour operator Thomas Cook collapsed on Sunday night, stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers and putting 21,000 jobs at risk.



The 178-year-old company said in a statement that its board "concluded that it had no choice but to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect" after talks on a financial rescue failed. All Thomas Cook bookings have been canceled, the UK Civil Aviation Authority tweeted.

Thomas Cook's business of selling flightson its own airline, along with hotel rooms, from brick-and-mortar storeshas been under pressure for years from online rivals and low-cost carriers. Brexit has made matters worse by pushing the pound lower (and the company's costs up) and deterring some travelers. The company had reported a loss of £1.5 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) for the six months to March 31.

The move triggers the largest ever peacetime repatriation in the history of the United Kingdom, topping the operation the government carried out after the 2017 collapse of Monarch Airlines.


There are more than 150,000 UK outbound Thomas Cook customers abroad, almost twice the number that were repatriated following the failure of Monarch, according to the aviation authority.



"When people get to the end of their holiday, they will be brought back to the UK," Tim Johnson, head of policy at the UK Civil Aviation Authority, told CNN.


"We've chartered 40 planes and we're going to be running over 1,000 flights over the next two weeks," he added.