On Monday 23rd September Thomas Cook entered compulsory liquidation meaning thousands of our Guests faced potential disruptions with their flights to and from our ships. This left Darren and his colleagues Jo and Jenna, in the Procurement team the challenge of re-sourcing over 22,000 individual return flights. The team had only hours and days to spare before P&O Cruises Guests were due to fly home from Malta and only weeks before thousands were due to fly to and from the Caribbean.
The first task was to secure new flights, so all eyes were on Darren. Calling on relationships he has with the industry, Darren with the help of his team jumped into action arranging calls and negotiations with in excess of 10 different airlines and various brokers.
At such short notice finding the correct sized aircrafts to fly from the right airport was a challenge. Not to mention ensuring those flights were with a reputable and financially stable airline. We normally book flights 12-18 months in advance.
Darren faced a number of challenges in trying to source new flights for our Guests. Airlines use the winter months for maintenance and all Boeing 737 Max aircraft are currently grounded, meaning further reductions in the number of aircrafts available in the market. Not to mention the Civil Aviation Authority were using immediate capacity to repatriate Thomas Cook customers and employees back to the UK.
Three weeks of negotiations later, based on the strong partnerships with current and past providers, Darren secured all requirements for the 19/20 season. Very few Guests have had changes to their arrangements and the vast majority have their original choice of days, airports and service. It proves that our ERO planning and testing, partnerships with Industry and teamwork across departments can overcome and deliver a great outcome for our Guests. The immediate requirement has been sorted but before Darren can breathe a sigh of relief he has to now secure the 2020 commitment!