6 ms·

Sixth airline to shut down in the last 12 months.

chrisseaton 7y ago
I think the airline part of their business was pretty minor, only a few aircraft, and they were considering selling it anyway. It's not really a story about an airline shutting down.
- meristem 7y ago
  94 aircraft.
  - chrisseaton 7y ago
    No they only had 34 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49791249 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49791249) - others were branded but actually a different company which is possibly able to continue independently thanks to the German government.
    - RonaldSchleifer 7y ago
      Thank you German tax slave that gets to pay for the externalized costs of the ruling class. Here's to you ... German tax slave that pays 30% an average effective income tax, 15% (7.5% employee/employer share) "free" healthcare, 20% sales (what VAT essentially is) tax, and 100% gasoline tax, and works while freeloading third world immigrants live off you by the millions while drawing "welfare" under three different fake names and living in three free houses for their three wives and the dozens of children that will disown the children you never had of the country and lands your forefathers created ... Here's to you ... pathologically altruistic self-destruct fool ... just the way they intended it for you in revenge.
    - meristem 7y ago
      Huh, I see that on the BBC side, thanks. Guardian had the number as 94. This could be a typo then, as the Thomas Cook Group (all subs) has 105 planes registered, 34 of which by UK sub
  - stupidcar 7y ago
    This article has them as the 11th largest West European airline: https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/aircraft-fleets-western-v-easterncentral-europe-airbus-leads-orders-410122 https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/aircraft-flee...
glofish 7y ago
I wonder how many of Europe's super cheap airlines are losing money. If more fail there might be a domino effect as so many places have come to rely on tourism.
- noahwitt 7y ago
  The long haul lCCs are. Ryan Air and Easy Jet make money, but they're in a very different space than WOW, Iceland, Norwegian, ETC. The Story of thmas cook is more complicated too as they were a travel agency as well.
- Ahwleung 7y ago
  Wouldn't the failure of competitors and decrease in available flights result in the opposite? The surviving economy airlines will have more demand, higher prices, and will do better as a result? Disclaimer: I have no knowledge or expertise in this field other than being subscribed to Wendover Productions.
  - glofish 7y ago
    In an optimally functioning world yeah - in an artificial world, where all of them lose money and are propped up artificially, one failure will lead to the rest of them perhaps losing a little less money ... or it could be that travel drops - fewer flights overall may mean fewer passengers for all of them - most flying is purely leisure
- HenryBemis 7y ago
  Ryanair and Wizzair are notorious to make profit out of every ticket. They live to NOT lose money. Yes some tickets do sell for £5 and some sell for £250 or more, depending the date/time you buy it. My shock is how companies like Thomas Cook manage to survive by constantly selling below cost just to keep alive. In my mind this is just another Uber, it only stays alive because people just keep throwing money at it. I wouldn't be surprised if TUI, Itaka, and others follow suite. I am always shocked to see their prices for a 5-6-7 day trip, at a fraction of what I would have paid. I do know that scaling reduces prices, but well.. apparently not really.. like the PIIGS economies the moment lending froze, Thomas went under.

I think the airline part of their business was pretty minor, only a few aircraft, and they were considering selling it anyway. It's not really a story about an airline shutting down.

meristem 7y ago
94 aircraft.
- chrisseaton 7y ago
  No they only had 34 (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49791249 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49791249) - others were branded but actually a different company which is possibly able to continue independently thanks to the German government.
  - RonaldSchleifer 7y ago
    Thank you German tax slave that gets to pay for the externalized costs of the ruling class. Here's to you ... German tax slave that pays 30% an average effective income tax, 15% (7.5% employee/employer share) "free" healthcare, 20% sales (what VAT essentially is) tax, and 100% gasoline tax, and works while freeloading third world immigrants live off you by the millions while drawing "welfare" under three different fake names and living in three free houses for their three wives and the dozens of children that will disown the children you never had of the country and lands your forefathers created ... Here's to you ... pathologically altruistic self-destruct fool ... just the way they intended it for you in revenge.
  - meristem 7y ago
    Huh, I see that on the BBC side, thanks. Guardian had the number as 94. This could be a typo then, as the Thomas Cook Group (all subs) has 105 planes registered, 34 of which by UK sub
- stupidcar 7y ago
  This article has them as the 11th largest West European airline: https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/aircraft-fleets-western-v-easterncentral-europe-airbus-leads-orders-410122 https://centreforaviation.com/analysis/reports/aircraft-flee...

glofish 7y ago

I wonder how many of Europe's super cheap airlines are losing money. If more fail there might be a domino effect as so many places have come to rely on tourism.

noahwitt 7y ago
The long haul lCCs are. Ryan Air and Easy Jet make money, but they're in a very different space than WOW, Iceland, Norwegian, ETC. The Story of thmas cook is more complicated too as they were a travel agency as well.
Ahwleung 7y ago
Wouldn't the failure of competitors and decrease in available flights result in the opposite? The surviving economy airlines will have more demand, higher prices, and will do better as a result? Disclaimer: I have no knowledge or expertise in this field other than being subscribed to Wendover Productions.
- glofish 7y ago
  In an optimally functioning world yeah - in an artificial world, where all of them lose money and are propped up artificially, one failure will lead to the rest of them perhaps losing a little less money ... or it could be that travel drops - fewer flights overall may mean fewer passengers for all of them - most flying is purely leisure
HenryBemis 7y ago
Ryanair and Wizzair are notorious to make profit out of every ticket. They live to NOT lose money. Yes some tickets do sell for £5 and some sell for £250 or more, depending the date/time you buy it. My shock is how companies like Thomas Cook manage to survive by constantly selling below cost just to keep alive. In my mind this is just another Uber, it only stays alive because people just keep throwing money at it. I wouldn't be surprised if TUI, Itaka, and others follow suite. I am always shocked to see their prices for a 5-6-7 day trip, at a fraction of what I would have paid. I do know that scaling reduces prices, but well.. apparently not really.. like the PIIGS economies the moment lending froze, Thomas went under.