Abta LifeLine ups appeal to help former Cook staff
Juliet Dennis
About 5,000 former Thomas Cook staff are still believed to be out of work four months on from the company’s collapse. Former Cook veteran John
McEwan estimated less than half of Cook’s 9,000 UK staff were now back in work, with many in Peterborough and Manchester still looking for jobs. Many of those who had found
employment include 2,000 to 3,000 retail staff, according to McEwan, whose appeal with fellow Cook veteran John Donaldson has so far raised £188,000 for industry charity Abta LifeLine. McEwan, who is also an Abta
LifeLine trustee, said the appeal, which targeted senior executives and originally aimed to raise £100,000, now hoped to reach £200,000. By Christmas 2019, £150,000 had
been paid out to former employees in desperate financial need. He said: “Of the amount raised
so far, almost 100% of it has gone out and this is why we want to continue to campaign for funds. There are a lot of cases of hardship; the majority of people are still looking for jobs and the demand for help will continue.” Abta LifeLine gave out £140,000
COLLAPSE
THOMAS COOK
Of the amount
raised, almost 100% of it has gone out. The majority of people are still looking for jobs
in food vouchers to ex-Cook staff in the eight weeks leading up to Christmas. Its focus now is on helping former staff with rents, mortgages, bills and childcare. The charity has had 1,300 applications for help. Director Trudie Clements said the
CAA urges booking with travel
agents to guarantee Atol cover The Civil Aviation Authority has urged consumers to book with travel agents after a study of 4,000 adults found 33% did not know how to check for Atol protection. Almost two-thirds (65%) of people said they were not put off booking a holiday this year despite Thomas Cook’s collapse. Head of Atol licensing Michael Budge said: “No matter what happens to your travel agent, you will be financially protected.”
6 30 JANUARY 2020
charity was now also looking at ways to provide more “wellbeing help” to mental health sufferers in the form of helplines or counselling. The need for this had become
particularly apparent following Cook’s collapse, she said, adding: “It’s definitely on our radar. We want to be seen as a wellbeing organisation in travel, whether it’s financial or counselling.” It comes as Abta LifeLine
prepares to relaunch its ‘pound per employee’ appeal at a rate of £2 per employee of Abta members. To donate, visit
abtalifeline.org.uk.
Heathrow unveils carbon
offset scheme for passengers Heathrow is giving its 80 million passengers the chance to offset the carbon emissions of their journey. The airport, which aims to be carbon neutral by the mid-2030s, has created a Flight Footprint Calculator, which shows passengers the carbon cost of their journey. Offsetting projects include a reforestation scheme in Uganda and wind farm in Costa Rica.
Saga trading update reveals
Cook’s collapse cost it £4m Saga suffered “one-off costs” of £4 million due to the collapse of Thomas Cook, according to a trading update for the six months to January 27. New-build ship Spirit of Discovery earned the over-50s specialist more than £20 million in the period. Saga said it was expecting to report a 5% year-on-year drop in tour operations revenues in full-year results due this week, but made no mention of speculation it is considering selling Titan Travel.
travelweekly.co.uk
Uniworld sues MSC Cruises over collision in Venice
Uniworld is suing MSC Cruises following a cruise ship collision in Venice last summer. MSC Opera crashed into
Uniworld’s River Countess, which was docked at the San Basilio Cruise Terminal in Venice on June 2 after the ship lost control. Chief executive and president
Ellen Bettridge said Uniworld had been “extremely disappointed” with the “unprofessional manner” of MSC in conversations since and that 14 Uniworld sailings had been cancelled as a result of the crash, affecting 1,600 passengers and costing an estimated €11.5 million. Bettridge said Uniworld did
“not like to litigate” but it had felt “compelled to do so based on the delays by MSC”. She added: “We expect better from a fellow member of the cruise industry.” MSC Cruises said it had
been working “constructively with all parties” and that it was “inappropriate” to comment further.
MSC Opera collided with
River Countess
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