Thomas Cook puts airline up for sale
 

Unfortunatly its a sign of what is to come, a downturn, we had the mass expansion and now we are paying for it

The airline still made £129m profit last year. If TCG looking to sell it it's to save the wider Group businesses, not because it's also doomed.

As a Thomas Cook shareholder, I personally attended the Thomas Cook AGM in Aldersgate, City of London today.
Chairing the meeting was Thomas Cook Chaiman, Frank Meysman, and sitting to his right, was CEO Peter Frankhauser.
There were about another ten directors there, all totally mute. They may even have been shop front mannequins.
An underwhelming lot, as I have ever seen.
Questions from the shareholders were poorly answered...if at all...(come and talk to us later, outside, over coffee, etc).
One poor chap got shot down for asking three questions in one of 'The Board'.
The matter of the airline sale came up.
In view of how profitable the airline is, a value of just over £1 Billion has been put on it....which has caight the board's attention...given the precarious financial state of the rest of the company.
So a 'review' of the Airline's place is about to commence.
Let's watch and see what happens....
BRING BACK HARRIET, I SAY........

That's my understanding as well. The airline is profitable, it's the rest of the group that's struggling, specifically with a debt pile that's restricting it's ability to invest in the business.

As already said, they have a massive debt pile of around 1.5 billion and a share price barely scraping 34p. The debt for TCG is greater than the value of the company and they need to build shareholder value and confidence. Like all hatchet jobs it's the profitable sectors of a company that get sold off, in this case the airline, although it has to be said that TCX did make a Q1 loss on like for like basis.
There are a lot of wasteful, money haemorrhaging practices in TCX that could have/should have been addressed earlier before the rot set in; for example the iniquitous 7/5 contracts. Paying pilots to stay at home for 5/12 for the first two years (those on NTR entry). I understand, however, that BALPA have challenged this issue and the period of 5/12 has been amended to one year for NTR pilots. (to sit at home and watch day time TV.)

Never understood that - selling the bits that are making cash to support the bits that aren't..........

Capitalism is about backing winners not losers IMHO

Never understood how a Company, any Company, could maintain and allow for such a waste of money.

It allows those in longer employment to earn more during times when flights are sparse and those who've only just joined to take the brunt of it.
Essentially it is all about keeping longer serving employees happier, LIFO principle works the same.
If redundancies are required, and they loose those last joined pilots, the ones that were joining just prior to them are now becoming couch potatoes. A very bad practice imho, instead better to share the lower work load keep everyone a little bit happy, rather then only those in longer employment.

As one bean counter said "left hand right hand" it's money from the same place....

You are dead right, Angry, the airlines does OK because of the underpinning of business from the tour operations.

I think the idea is that by strengthening the balance sheet, the remainder of Thomas Cook will then be able to invest in the business rather than service the debt pile. I'm not saying it will work, but in business terms it does make sense.

The airline also carries passengers booked on other tour operators holidays.

Lufthansa seems interested in Condor’s long haul...

Is this another one from your rumour mill safelife? ;)

Yes, they did.

Ditto

https://airwaysmag.com/best-of-airwa...r-boeing-747s/

It wouldn't surprise me if a Far-Eastern or Middle-Eastern investor would step into the fray for the middle and short-haul operations.