Kennedy News & MediaA captain on a Thomas Cook flight broke down in tears as he addressed passengers on one of the travel group’s final flights.
According to passengers on board the flight to Manchester Airport, the pilot began to ‘choke up’ as he said farewell to passengers and flight staff.
Andrew Whitmore, 48, filmed the ‘moving’ footage of tourists returning from Cancun, Mexico, to Manchester on Sunday, September 22, listening to a heartfelt speech from a cabin crew member called Alex.
The atmosphere on board the plane was ‘very emotional’ as passengers cheered on visibly distraught staff – who had learnt just hours earlier that they were returning home without jobs.
You can watch the footage here:
Obviously holding back tears, the captain said:
I’d just like to take this opportunity to thank all the crew on board for operating in such a professional manner all the way back to the UK and getting you all back here safe and sound.
We do have many friends and colleagues throughout the business today and I’m sure you’ll appreciate we’d just like to say thank you for those customers who have flown with us for many years, those customers who have flown with us for the first time, we do hope you enjoyed your flight with Thomas Cook and you’ll be the last people to be on this aircraft.
Please have a safe journey onwards home.
Andrew, who was returning from a two week trip with his partner, said he ‘really felt’ for the crew, captain and co-pilots who were believed to be taking their last flights.
PixabayAndrew said:
It’s very emotional. It was quite moving. I really, really felt for them. There’s a lot of people who have lost their jobs and their livelihoods today.
We’d been in Cancun for two weeks and fortunately the trip wasn’t cut short. We flew on time. Last night we weren’t sure what was happening so there was uncertainty. We knew if we got on the plane before 12 o’clock, we would fly.
You could sense the atmosphere with the staff – the feeling of uncertainty.
I get everyone making jokes about #ThomasCook .. but it actually breaks my heart reading about the final plane touching down, the captain thanking his crew, the crew saying goodbye to their last passengers… my heart goes out to all the staff 😔
— Rebecca Jane (@LadyDetectives1) September 23, 2019
On Monday morning Thomas Cook announced despite ‘considerable efforts’, the company’s board had no choice but to take steps to enter into compulsory liquidation with immediate effect.
Chief executive Peter Frankhauser described the company’s collapse as a matter of ‘profound regret’.
Thomas Cook was Britain’s oldest travel firm. The company went into liquidation yesterday, September 23, leaving around 21,000 jobs at risk and thousands of holidaymakers potentially stranded.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.