Thomas Cook Likely to Slash 430 Jobs as it Reduces Fleet Size
Thomas Cook Airbus A320 (photo: Wikipedia)
Thomas Cook airlines is likely to cut 430 jobs as they will cut their fleet size to save on costs.
The UK’s second-biggest travel company aims to reduce the number of planes it operates from 35 to 31, returning four aircraft at the end of their lease term.
The cuts will most likely be across the board, and will include pilots and cabin crew.
‘The group, which was recently forced to turn to its banks for an additional £200million of loans, has scaled back the size of its own airline in the past year and entered into a partnership with easyJet.
Christoph Debus, group head of air travel at Thomas Cook, said: “This is a very difficult decision, but necessary to deliver a successful transformation and build a sustainable business for the future, which will continue to offer opportunities for the 2,700 people employed with us after these proposed changes.”’
As well as reducing its aircraft fleet, it has sold five Spanish hotels and its Indian arm as part of the strategy to reduce its debt mountain of around £1billion.
The airline has not specified which planes will be returned to their lessors.
Category: Airnation
I have always wondered what the basic cost of a flight is, say from BRS, Bristol to DLM, Dalaman.
How much would Thomas cook have to charge to break even.
Basic cost would include the aircraft including maintenance, fuel, employees, airport charges, insurance, etc, etc, etc.
Does anyone have knowledge of, or can provide a link to an inside view of the arcane (known or knowable only to the initiated), world of holiday flight pricing.
I may be entirely wrong with what i have to offer in response but I shall have a stab at it.
As far as my understanding goes, it costs the same in fuel, maintenance, ATC charges, possibly the usual airport handling costs such as terminal useage, landing fees be it total aircraft weight or per passenger or both, landside/airside security and so forth as it would for a BA/Lufthansa aircraft operating on the same runways on the same day. Perhaps the likes of Ryanair/Easyjet negotiate special terms for the business the airport gets but the probability is that it is how the airline operates in-house rather than how it operates under aviation law.
Thomas Cook or TUI etc. sell aircraft ( airframe and seats, owned or leased ) en-block, i.e. the capacity and it’s allocated runway slots to tour operators be it in house or to others and it is for the tour operator the fill the aircraft for that flight to whichever resort it is slated for and if possible make a buck or two profit.
Very different from the mainline operators that run flights like trains or buses, to a timetable come rain or shine, empty or full. Fares are set and they go in order to maintain schedules and keep planes where they should be on any given hour at any location on the network. It is not unusual for a BA 747 flight to JFK to leave with only 90 passengers but return to LHR full to the seams. This is why chaos reigns when strikes or volcanos dare to disrupt things!!
Hope this helps and I am sure others may correct me in certain details1