Of course it's a good idea; Thomas Cook could have operated the flights needed to recover their customers with the CAA/ATOL fund paying DOCs and guaranteeing payment to insurers, airports, handlers, fuel suppliers, ground staff, admin staff and aircrew.
It was obscene to see all those serviceable aircraft on the ground while the Government chartered capacity at enormous expense, paying from the ATOL fund - let's guess - 4 times what it would have cost to underwrite the TC operation DOCs.
I take the point about crews having other priorities, but I have no doubt at all that sufficient crews (and engineers, handlers etc) would have operated, if only for the money, but also, as we have seen, from a sense of obligation to their customers. All the systems and manpower were in place to operate these flights. All the necessary safety controls and documentation were in place and valid.