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CAA Completes Thomas Cook Repatriation Effort
The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has today completed the repatriation efforts, dubbed 'Operation Matterhorn' for those stranded as a result of the Thomas Cook collapse. (airwaysmag.com) Plus d'info...
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Why could the Company assets not have been used to do the repatriation given the CAA was paying for it anyway, the staff and aircraft were all in place?
Thomas Cook's liabilities greatly exceeded its assets, which is why it had to declare bankruptcy. Nobody will extend credit to a bankrupt airline and they had no cash left, so the aircraft could only be used if operated by a different entity, and the legal steps to do that would have taken too long. The question is, who deserves to benefit from the assets? The passengers who were left stranded? The lenders? The employees? A surprising fact is that most passengers will be able to claim back the cost of their Thomas Cook flights if they paid by credit card, even though they have been repatriated free of charge by the UK Government. Passengers who were flown home on a repatriation flight can claim for their original departure under the UK Consumer Credit Act. The law makes card providers jointly liable with the supplier for the provision of the service – in this case a one-way flight to the UK!
I think it is because of the current rules when going into bankruptcy, that needs to change and I believe its on the list to have a look at and to when. That is a good question
