AGONY AS FAMILY TRIP TO MOVE ON FROM DAD’S DEATH RUINED
THOUSANDS STRANDED AFTER DEMISE OF TRAVEL GIANT:
THOUSANDS of holidaymakers face an anxious wait to find out how they will get home following the collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook.
The last of the firm’s flights to arrive in the Glasgow landed at 5.50am from Orlando in Florida, with seven inbound and seven outbound services grounded yesterday.
More than 2,400 passengers are thought to have been caught up in yesterday’s disruption, while many more have seen holidays cancelled.
The 178-year-old company ceased trading in the early hours of yesterday morning after failing to secure a lastditch rescue deal.
An estimated 150,000 tourists are being brought back to the UK by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in a flight programme costing £100million.
The first repatriation flights, arranged by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority, from Zante and Menorca arrived back in Glasgow Airport yesterday afternoon, with reports of some passenaffecting gers missing flights home.
One woman, an airport worker, said she feared some people may have been left behind after the replacement flight took off early.
Donna Young, 57, said: “There were some Thomas Cook staff there, but we weren’t offered any water or extra information. I work in Edinburgh Airport, so I did say some more information and some water would be nice because we didn’t get it.
“We think some people have missed the flight back – our boarding passes said 14.40 for boarding, and they boarded an hour and a half before that.”
Jackie McDonald, a 53-year-old from Bellshill, said she was shocked to find out the news.
She added: “The buses were all cancelled and they had to get taxis for everyone.
“But we ended up with an American airline on the way back, so it was fine.
“The last few days we couldn’t get a hold of the Thomas Cook reps.
“I was quite shocked that we hadn’t been told. I thought they would say to people beforehand.”
Meanwhile, Frances McGhee shared her sympathy for those whose jobs are at risk.
She added: “There were plenty of reassurances that everyone was going to get home. We hope the thousands of staff will find another job.”
Jim Hatton, 61, has been suffering “sleepless” nights over fears of the collapse, which left him stuck in Menorca.
The Helensburgh man has began pursuing emergency steps to get critical medical supplies, as he only has heart medication for a couple more days.
The retired chartered engineer is now waiting among huge queues in the airport for his replacement flight to Glasgow.
He said: “My wife and I have mobility problems and take a lot of meds for pain relief and other conditions. We made provision for a couple of days extra but if we had been delayed longer some vital heart medication I take for an arrhythmia would have run out. We had plans to visit a doctor locally to try to get a prescription but we were told it would be OK.”
All future Thomas Cook bookings have been cancelled, around one million people.
Across the world, Glaswegians have raised concerns about the impact this could have, between running out of medication or being stopped from visiting family.
As well as those who have lost out on holidays and other trips abroad, uncertainty still hangs over the 22,000 staff worldwide who could face unemployment.
Across Glasgow there are six Thomas Cook stores, as well as a number of staff working across Glasgow Airport and other venues.
The Thomas Cook store on Gordon Street was left as a shell, as staff and customers were locked out of the premises without any information on its closure or the collapse of the company yesterday.
Unfortunately for staff members, there was no information to be seen; no sign in the windows, no representative from the company to explain to them what to do next. With no word from head office, staff have been left to guess whether they’ll receive their wages come payday.
Glasgow Kelvin MSP Sandra White, who was spotted at the Thomas Cook store on Gordon Street, extended her support to employees affected.
Any employees at the Thomas Cook store in the city centre have been urged to contact Ms White with any concerns, who will raise these on behalf of employees of the Gordon Street store.
She said: “We’re in a grey area at the moment when it comes to the staff. I’m here to see if there’s anything I can do to help as part of the Scottish Government.”
Thomas Cook chief executive Peter Fankhauser said his company had “worked exhaustively” to salvage a rescue package and apologised to those impacted.
The Scottish Government has now offered its support to company staff.
Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said: “This will be a very worrying time for employees in Scotland, and Scottish staff based overseas, and we recognise these job losses will have a disproportionate impact on women.
“We have already made the offer of support for affected employees in Scotland through our Partnership Action for Continuing Employment initiative.”
‘‘ I was quite shocked that we hadn’t been told JACKIE McDONALD
‘‘ We hope the thousands of staff find another job FRANCES McGHEE