9/23/2019: Thomas Cook Airlines Ceases Operations

DALLAS - Today, in 2019, British-based Thomas Cook Airlines (MT) ceased operations. Its 178-year-old travel company parent had gone into liquidation, putting 22,000 jobs at risk across the globe.

Its final flight, MT2643, touched down in Manchester (MAN) at 08:52 BST from Orlando (MCO). The subsequent repatriation of the airline's 165,000 stranded passengers became the largest in UK history.

In August 2019, the airline secured a £900 million rescue deal led by its largest shareholder, Chinese firm Fosun. But demands from banks to raise a further £200 million in contingency funds put the deal in doubt. Management held desperate talks with lenders in an attempt to secure additional funding to no avail.

A Long History

Thomas Cook Airlines could trace its history back to 1996, when the Thomas Cook Group purchased rival travel firm Sunworld and its in-house airline Airworld (RL). Sunworld then merged with the Flying Colours Leisure Group, and its two airlines merged under the Flying Colours brand at the end of the 1998 summer season.

Flying Colours then merged with Caledonian Airways (KG) on September 1, 1999. The two airlines were then rebranded as JMC Air (MT), named after founder Thomas Cook's son's initials, "John Mason Cook."

JMC Air was then rebranded as Thomas Cook Airlines on March 31, 2003. Management chose to capitalize on the long and trusted history of the brand in the travel industry. The final piece of the puzzle was the merger of MyTravel Airways (VZ) on March 30, 2008.