Thomas Cook collapse: Bailout fails, tourists stranded

Thomas Cook Group Plc collapsed under a pile of debt after talks with creditors failed, forcing the British government to hire charter planes to bring thousands of the 178-year-old travel company’s customers back home.

The company filed for administration early Monday after eleventh-hour negotiations to raise additional funding failed to result in a deal. The move saw all bookings, flights and holidays with Thomas Cook cancelled, sparking panic online among travellers. In what it called the largest repatriation in peacetime history, the government said it would work to return all those booked to come back to the UK over the next two weeks free of cost.