Thousands of Travelers Left Stranded After<br />Collapse of Thomas Cook Travel Agency The United Kingdom’s most famous travel agency,<br />Thomas Cook, recently collapsed after 178 years of service. More than 150,000 U.K. customers have<br />been left stranded abroad as a result, with<br />all future flights and bookings cancelled. The agency’s failure is reportedly due to the<br />government’s refusal to bail-out the business,<br />which had more than £1.7 billion in debt. According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson,<br />intervening to save Thomas Cook would<br />have created a “moral hazard.” Boris Johnson, via Business Insider. A repatriation effort, codenamed Operation<br />Matterhorn, is currently in effect and will bring<br />an estimated 16,000 people home to the U.K. daily.
