Thomas Cook collapses

UK-based travel company Thomas Cook went belly-up on Sept. 23, leaving more than 155,000 tourists stranded around the world. Using assistance from private airlines chartered by the UK government, the largest peacetime repatriation of British citizens was effected to return travelers booked with Thomas Cook to the UK. Citizens of other nations who were on vacations booked through Thomas Cook were not included in that repatriation.

The company, which described itself as the oldest tour company in the world, having been founded in 1841, owned its own hotels, resorts and airplanes, allowing travelers to book their entire vacations with one company, though it also contracted with hotels in places where it owned no property.