Originally Posted by
PSPAirliner
what a fantastic idea! everything is in place. Keep it simply for operations only, no admin work. They would be quarantined their salaries and less chance of bailing. Treat it as a charter by the government. Hell of a lot cheaper. Cover salaries for those redundant for as long as ops happening. Then grant the working crew/staff and equal amount of paid time off
However legally I guess it can’t happen
Legally and practically. The big problem is that there will be many many suppliers who haven't been paid, quite possibly for months, airports, hotels, coaches, taxis, etc. Any attempt to run the repatriation as "Thomas Cook" (or even a related entity) risks those suppliers taking legal or practical action to get paid (aircraft impounded, tourists held hostage - all already happening), whether legally entitled to payment or not, the total cost of doing that will be completely unknown - even if you went through all the accounts there is a big chance the figures are at best inaccurate, dying companies are not famed for accurate accounting.
I'll bet that many of the people actually doing the repatriation (in all roles) will be ex-Thomas Cook, but now working on temp contracts for a different entity to clearly separate them from the corporate corpse of TC as it crashes and burns. That's the way you want it, honestly it's better for everyone that way - let the administrators deal with the fallout, they get paid for it (always). The aircraft will be different because it takes too long the re-register and re-paint them, assuming you can get them un-impounded.