Thomas Cook cabin crew and pilots stranded in Las Vegas
Dozens of Thomas Cook cabin crew and pilots are struggling to get back from locations in the US and Caribbean after the company collapsed.
Katie McQuillan, a cabin crew member from Rochdale, tweeted: “Eight stranded crew kicked out of the hotel in Las Vegas.”
Thomas Cook Airlines, which was a flourishing part of the travel firm, closed down on Monday morning.
The last touchdowns were transatlantic flights arriving at Manchester airport from Cancun, Las Vegas and Orlando
The outbound flights had reached their destinations on Sunday. But the rostering meant that the crew who flew out would normally stay at the destination for two nights before returning to Manchester.
There are understood to be crew in other locations, including Cuba. Short-haul planes returned from European destinations with all cabin crew on board.
Ms McQuillan reported that the cabin crew stranded in Las Vegas had approached British Airways to fly out on Monday on a scheduled service to London. She said the airline had three empty business-class seats for which they were quoted a one-way fare of £10,000.
The cabin crew reportedly asked to be able to occupy jump-seats on the London-bound Boeing, but were told that as they were technically no longer cabin crew trusty would not be allowed to do so. “Absolutely fuming,” she wrote.
@British_Airways 8 stranded crew kicked out of the hotel in Las Vegas 3 empty seats on BA flight and there words it's £10,000 a ticket & not aloud to sit on jump seats as we're no longer crew. Absolutely fuming @VirginAtlantic on the other hand have been brilliant
— Katie McQuillan (@katie_mcq19)
A spokesperson for BA said: “We are investigating what happened on this occasion.
“We are working with the CAA with its process to ensure Thomas Cook staff get home as quickly as possible at no cost to themselves.
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“Our customer relations and airport teams across our global network are also ready to help any colleague who need a flight back to the UK.”
British Airways is offering “rescue fares” to passengers affected by the collapse of Thomas Cook.
The cabin crew have found an alternative way back using Delta from Las Vegas to Atlanta and a Virgin Atlantic flight to Manchester.
It is believed that Thomas Cook’s airline bosses knew when the planes landed late on Sunday night, British time, that the firm was about to close down. The outbound crew could have been accommodated on the inbound leg, as passengers rather than working, but to do so would have confirmed the collapse of Thomas Cook before the official announcement at 2am on Monday.
Around 21,000 staff, including all the airline employees, lost their jobs in the failure.
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The Civil Aviation Authority, which is administering “Operation Matterhorn” to bring Thomas Cook passengers back from abroad, is also assisting flight crew stranded overseas.
They can call the advice centre for support on +44 1753 330 330.
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