Thomas Cook boss: I’m off on my hols
but not where YOU might go
THE chairman of Thomas Cook has been blasted for boasting of his exotic holiday plans just days after the travel giant’s collapse.
In an extraordinary interview uncovered by The Mail on Sunday, Frank Meysman said he is not a ‘typi cal’ Thomas Cook t ourist and instead uses Airbnb, the online accommodation firm, on his phone.
Meysman, a Belgian who lives near Brussels, also said he felt no personal responsibility for the fate of Thomas Cook – despite chairing the company for its last eight years.
The admissions were made to a Belgian newspaper just a few days after Thomas Cook went into administration. Meysman told Belgium’s L’Echo that he had spent the aftermath of Thomas Cook’s collapse walking and resting in his garden.
When asked where he will next go on holiday, he spoke about his plans to t r avel t o Kazan, which he described as the ‘ Switzerland of Russia’. Meysman, 67, has kept a low profile in the British media since Thomas Cook fell into liquidation on September 23.
It collapsed after failing to secure an extra £200 million as part of a £900 million rescue deal with banks and its largest shareholder, Fosun.
Around 9,000 British workers lost their jobs and the holiday plans of hundreds of thousands of people were thrown into disarray. In a separate interview uncovered by this newspaper, Meysman, who was paid £307,000 for his Thomas Cook work last year, said he did not care that Manny Fontenla- Novoa had earned millions before being ousted for poor performance in 2012.
Meysman – who started as chairman shortly after Fontenla-Novoa departed – told a BBC radio programme in 2012: ‘I don’t know and I don’t care because I wasn’t there.’
Critics – i ncluding a f ormer Thomas Cook managing director and Rachel Reeves, chair of Parliament’s Business Select Committee – rounded on Meysman last night.
John McEwan, who started working at Thomas Cook aged 16 and rose to become UK managing director, said Meysman must accept responsibility for the firm’s fate. He said: ‘Whatever the circumstances – and it may not be attributable to you in terms of why a company might have failed – ultimately it’s on your watch and therefore you have to take some responsibility for what has happened.’
Rachel Reeves, who last week led the Business Select Committee’s parliamentary interrogation of Meysman and chief executive Peter Fankhauser, accused the chairman of showing ‘very little remorse’ and called on him to ‘show some humility.’
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of travel union TSSA, accused Meysman of showing ‘contemptible arrogance’ and said he ‘doesn’t appear to care a jot about the products the company sold and its customers, as he clearly feels he is better than them.’
Meysman defended himself last night, telling the MoS: ‘I was devastated by the collapse of Thomas Cook, a company I was committed to for almost a decade. Exhaustive efforts were made to save the business and it would be a gross mischaracterisation to suggest that I am anything other than deeply sorry that we were unsuccessful.’
McEwan and former Thomas Cook chief executive John Donaldson are aiming to raise more than £100,000 for staff affected by the firm’s collapse. They have donated £5,000 each and raised more than £60,000 so far. The pair will be asking other former bosses to donate.