Originally Posted by
FRogge
Nah, TC had been struggling already for a longer time. A loan guarantee would have just pushed the bankruptcy back with X amount of months.
Different story if TC would have been a Italian flag carrier. Then you could just expect the gov to bail you out time after time.
You are half right. The tour company and the group as a whole had structural problems dating back to the merger with MYT and the CoOp shop chain. The debt mountain was, in the end, insurmountable. But, the expectation was, that the Group would enter pre-pack administration, which would have led to the profitable parts being sold off. The UK airline, after quite a few lean years, had been turned into a profitable company. (ironically the loss making airlines in Europe got bailed out). Had the government stumped up the cash to keep it going, they would have avoided the huge liability that ATOL has incurred and the fairly good chance that the airlines would have been bought by a bidder. There were bidders for the respective airlines earlier in the year, but at the time the BoD didn't think the price was enough and when the bidders got wind of the extra demands by the banks/debt holders reduced their offer again. I'm pretty sure that this whole sorry affair, once the dust has settled, will reflect badly on both BoD and Government. Of course, any will there be any ramifications for those held responsible? Na, don't be daft. Meanwhile the PBI are down the Job Centre.