Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Pay back £500K bonus, Thomas Cook fatcat told Probe MPS demand ‘Show you’re sorry’
THE ex-boss of collapsed Thomas Cook has been urged to return a £558,000 bonus after driving the stricken firm “on to the rocks”.
Peter Fankhauser yesterday admitted being paid an “enormous amount” but insisted he worked extremely hard to try to save the debt-laden holiday giant.
And it emerged that no Government ministers met the firm’s desperate chiefs to discuss a hoped-for bailout.
The Swiss executive also told MPS that half his £8million in pay and perks since 2014 was in now worthless Thomas Cook shares and that he received no bonus for 2018. However, the Commons Business Select Committee heard his bonus of £558,000 for 2017 could be clawed back.
Mr Fankhauser, watched by uniformed former Thomas Cook staff, repeated that he was sorry for the firm’s demise.
Committee chair Rachel Reeves said: “The number of times you say sorry rings hollow if you don’t give something back.”
The chief executive, 59, said he would “consider what is right but I’m not going to decide that today”. Speaking of the firm’s accounts, Ms Reeves said: “You failed to turn around this business and in the end you couldn’t hide these numbers for ever.” She also accused executives of being “deluded” and of guiding Thomas Cook “on to the rocks”. Mr Fankhauser revealed they had no face-to-face meetings with ministers prior to the collapse last month, despite requesting a bailout of up to £250million.
MPS called that lack of contact “astonishing” and Rebecca Long-bailey, Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary, said: “There has been a clear dereliction of duty by the Government.”