Former Thomas Cook chief executive Peter Fankhauser has said he is “deeply sorry” for the collapse of the travel operator.
But he told MPs that he had worked “extremely hard” to try to save it and that there were “multiple parties” involved in unsuccessful attempts to prevent it from going under.
Mr Fankhauser said he was hamstrung by the company’s debt pile as he tried to turn around the company’s fortunes – and its prospects were then further damaged by the heatwave summer that dented bookings last year.
Former Thomas Cook employees, some of them wearing their old uniforms, sat behind Mr Fankhauser and other former senior management as they gave evidence to the Commons business select committee.
Mr Fankhauser told MPs: “I really want to repeat how deeply sorry we are that we couldn’t save this iconic British company.
Advertisement
“I am deeply sorry about this failure and I am deeply sorry at the distress caused to millions of customers who booked holidays with us.”
Mr Fankhauser also apologised to suppliers and said he was “especially sorry to all my colleagues, who worked extremely hard”.
He added: “I put massive, massive work into saving the company and I have to admit I failed.”
Mr Fankhauser said that since taking over in 2014 he had been working on “transforming this business from an old-fashioned tour operator to a modern tour operator”.
But he added: “The pace was not fast enough. It was constrained by this huge debt pile.”
He said that since 2012, Thomas Cook had spent £1.2bn on interest and refinancing costs.
“Imagine if we could reinvest in the business only half of that, we could have been faster.”
MPs rounded on those appearing before the committee, including former chairman Frank Meysman, over the millions that executives were paid in the run-up to Thomas Cook’s collapse, describing the sums as “rewards for failure”.
Mr Fankhauser said he would not defend his levels of pay but insisted he had worked “extremely hard”.
More follows…
