.. nothing my friend. The First Choice Board have just announced that they have terminated talks about the possible sale of Mainstream. One fact lost on the masses is that they never put the division up for sale. Once MYT approached with an offer they had to be seen jumping through the hoops as far as the City was concerned. I'm sure if the money was right it would have been sold, but the Management said from the start that FCH was in a position of strength and didn't need to do anything. This wasn't the case for the likes of MYT.
Regards
Relieved Airbus FO!

I think that the new company should be called "My Thomas".

:* :*

I take it then that this has effectively put the Kybosh on all recruitment for this year?:{

BR.

I would like to think that The Islander is correct that nothing will happen to First Choice. But what happened to the exit stategy that Peter Long had planned for himself? Everything is for sale - at the right price. Further rationalisation of the tour operating market is almost inevitable. I don't think the play is over yet - and what about those juicy delivery slots on the 787?
BC

PS Like the idea of My Thomas but what about Thomas Travel or My Cook?

Well I think it should be called either 'My Cook' or 'Thomas Travel'

Good luck with the merging of the seniority lists, chaps :uhoh:

The Islander said :I'm sure if the money was right it would have have been sold, but the Management said from the start that FCH was in a position of strength and didn't need to do anything. This wasn't the case for the likes of MYT.
????? the likes of Myt ??? Myt is in good health...no debt and a very streamline operation ! A merger makes sense for the industry..but you now say your a relieved F/o Islander...what happens to FCA now if they cant sell the short haul business as they are now the smallest of 3 major tour ops ? and the share price is down 40p !

Topflight, oh come on dont make me laugh, MYT had not made a profit until this year so how could they possible be in good health. An as for FC? well yes they are smaller compared with the new company but nothing changes, in fact it could be argued that with the forthcoming redundancies and slimming down of the new company FC could be in a better position as margins wont be quite so tight and less holidays overall in the market place. TCX has taken on a company and more importantly the directors who couldn't make a profit if it stared them in the face.

Just to clarify this is a merger not a buyout.

Would be nice if TC and MT could get it on and squeeze FC until the pips squeak!

Correct, this is a merger, TC are not taking over MYT.

Do you really think TC's banks and accountants would allow them to join with a lame duck.
MYT are a slick operation now; the best charter airline for OTP, lowest costs and are making money. More importantly they have a huge turnover, and profit making arms in North America and Scandinavia.
The fact that they have upto £1 billion for expansion burning a hole in their trousers shows how strong they are. Only now they have doubled their size without spending a penny.

Well said Duff Beer...westie, read Duffs post..spot on.

Didn't get past the first stage of the application Nearly Man?

The way i'm reading it the Thomas Cook brand will be retained, so My Travel Airways will be absorbed into Thomas Cook. Does that seem about right?

As far as I can tell from the initial press release, this is a merger, not a buyout, with Thomas Cook's parent company taking on a majority shareholding, with MyTravel's shareholders taking on the remaining part. The company is using the Thomas Cook brand because it is more established, so would imagine that this would extend to the airline and to the travel agencies.

Craps little helper, my vendeta runs a bit deeper than that!

Sounds a good move to me, Thomas Cook have been in need of an expansion, MYT have been scrapping along but slowly building.

Any idea when the deal will finally be sealed?

I think the initial press release stated that they intend for the deal to be sealed by June.

I thought that was the date when everything would be up and running, ie flying as TCX with the tcx livery on the aircraft etc.

Wont they be signing on the dotted line before then?

It needs regulatory approval, and this is not to happen untill end of June. Nothing is going to happen untill the autum at the earliest, and it will take about 2 years untill the companys are fully intergrated.

It is being called a merger, but most of the top management positions are to be taken by TCX managers, Karlstat is the majority share holder (52%) and the combined company is to be called Thomas Cook Group PLC. Read into that what you will, but it doesnt sound much like a merger to me. Also the share holders of MYT have had to give assurances of credit and bonding which TCX has demanded.

I get the feeling this summer is going to be a bad one for both airlines!

Jonty, please elaborate on why you think the summer is going to be bad for both airlines. You appear to have plucked that one out of thin air. Surely this summer is already cast in a tablet of stone and should run as planned. Maybe next summer will be a better one for TCX as they learn the MYT methods for excellent OTP and in flight service!! This summer though, will see very few, if any additional changes for either airline.