A THOMAS Cook captain broke down in tears as he addressed passengers on one of the final flights of the collapsed airline this morning.
Laura Newsome, 29, who was on the recently-bust Thomas Cook flight this morning, said that the pilot flying to Manchester Airport began to choke up as he bid farewell to passengers and air stewards.
The dog groomer from Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, was returning home from a 10-day break in Cyprus when she boarded one of the final Thomas Cook flights this morning.
She said that as the aircraft prepared for landing at 4.50am today, the pilot broke down during an emotional announcement while staff were “holding each other” and in tears.
The keen flyer, who described Thomas Cook as a “second home,” said hearing the captain’s final farewell over the tannoy was “heartbreaking.”
She said: “As we started to drop down for landing he came over the tannoy and started telling us the local time and air temperature like they usually do.
But this time rather than saying ‘thanks for flying with Thomas Cook we hope to see you again’, he said ‘thank you for choosing to fly Thomas Cook for the last time – it’s been a pleasure to fly you around the world. I just can’t believe this is how it ends.’
“As he said it you could hear his voice start to choke up and then he broke into a sob, it was heartbreaking.”
As well as the captain’s solemn sob, Laura also said that many of the cabin crew were in tears, holding each other as they waved passengers off the Thomas Cook aircraft for the final time.
Thomas Cook, Britain’s oldest travel firm, went bust this morning, leaving 21,000 jobs at risk and thousands of holidaymakers stranded abroad.
Staff members and cabin crew have taken to social media to praise the failed firm for their time in employment.