178-yr-old company, Thomas Cook files for bankruptcy as bailout talks fail

In the space of little more than a year, Thomas Cook's business outlook degenerated from concern about the sales impact of a freak north European heatwave to a full-on fight for survival

Thomas Cook Group Plc, the 178-year travel company that became one of the U.K.’s best-known brands, has collapsed under a pile of debt, leaving tens of thousands of British tourists stranded across Europe.

The company filed for administration early Monday at the High Court in London after talks to raise additional funding failed, Thomas Cook said in a statement. AlixPartners LLP was named an adviser and will work with the country’s Civil Aviation Authority to get holidaymakers back home over the next two weeks. The government called it the “largest repatriation in peacetime history.”

“Although a deal had been largely agreed, an