The Government and Britain’s airline watchdog knew in August that Monarch was on the brink as it also emerged the vast majority of customers will not get an automatic refund.
The Luton-based airline imploded yesterday leaving 860,000 customers high and dry and prompting the UK’s biggest peacetime repatriation.
Only around 43,000 people – five per cent of all victims – will definitely get their cash back under the government-backed Atol scheme that protects package holidays.
Everyone else will have to claim the money spent on flights back through credit card firms and banks – but travel insurers are unlikely to pay out.
There is also growing anger over how Monarch handled its collapse amid claims its customers and staff were left in the dark and told they were ‘operating as normal’ before hearing the bad news via text or email.
The CAA yesterday revealed that the airline had alerted it more than a month ago that it was in difficulty.
Monarch passengers queue for a repatriation flight out of Gran Canaria today – 12,000 of the 110,000 stranded are back so far
The Government and Britain’s airline watchdog knew in August that Monarch was on the brink, it was revealed today (grounded planes pictured at Luton last night)
Passengers and Monarch staff arrived at airports yesterday to closed check-in desks and notes explaining the airline was bust
More than 110,000 people were stranded by Monarch’s demise – these are the main destinations
Its chief executive, Andrew Haines, stressed that the CAA only had a ‘clear indication’ that Monarch was about to go into administration late on Saturday.
Customers are threatened with ARREST and eviction from hotels as Monarch leaves unpaid bills
Mike Heald, pictured with his wife Kerry, daughter Ashleyne and father-in-law Les in Lanzarote
Monarch customers have been threatened with arrest or eviction from their foreign hotels over the airline’s unpaid bills, MailOnline can reveal today.
Several package holidaymakers who gave the collapsed airline up to £3,300 several months ago have been told they must pay again because it wasn’t passed on.
He told MailOnline: ‘We haven’t heard anything at all from Monarch but saw on the news it had gone bust.
‘I went to reception to check about transfer or taxi to the airport tomorrow and it became clear that Monarch had not paid the hotel the £3,300 we paid them in advance three or four months ago.
‘We were told that if we left without paying we would be arrested. The British consulate have advised that we should just pay. I tried the CAA website but it kept failing.
‘We’ll need to borrow the money from home. I’m massively p***** off but if there if is a choice between going to a cell or being with my wife and daughter then I’ll find the money’.
Jessica Day’s mother and father were threatened with the street over an unpaid Monarch bill in the Balearics.
She told MailOnline: ‘My parents are currently in Menorca at the Princess Playa Menorca and have just been told they will be getting thrown out of the hotel along with other guests if they don’t pay as Monarch have not paid the bill.
‘This is crazy, they are a couple in their 60’s enjoying a holiday before my father has a hip replacement and potentially will be on the streets in a foreign country’.
But customers revealed they were still able to book seats in the minutes before it went into administration on Monday morning.
And many were left heartbroken as their flights from the UK and Europe were cancelled – sometimes just minutes before boarding.
MailOnline also revealed that some customers abroad were threatened with arrest or eviction from hotels because Monarch had failed to pass on thousands in cash from their pre-paid holidays.
Tearful Monarch staff were told by email or learned they had lost their jobs after hearing it on the news or when they arrived for work.
It also emerged that the former boss of Monarch, Andrew Swaffield, set up a business consultancy firm on Friday as the airline battled for survival.
The former Monarch boss told MailOnline that he wished to apologise to Monarch customers and staff.
‘The most important thing for me to add is to say how sorry I am that the company has had to enter administration and that so many customers have been inconvenienced and that so many jobs have been lost,’ he said.
‘Today’s been a heartbreaking day.’
He added that the decline of the airline was triggered by terror attacks in Monarch’s destinations, but the coup de grace was ‘the Brexit referendum and the fact that it put our costs up by £40million because the pound collapsed.’
Yesterday, Monarch bosses were accused of ‘picking the pockets of consumers’ because they launched a new sale on Friday despite being about to go bust.
Swaffield refused to accept this, telling MailOnline that the sale was just ‘business as usual’.
‘That’s a constant process, it’s going on the time,’ he said. ‘That’s business as usual, it’s not a [special] sale on Friday. I can absolutely refute that management was aware of a [special] sale on Friday. That’s simply not the case.’
Last night, MailOnline disclosed that Swaffield sent an upbeat email to staff just a week before the airline collapsed.
In it, he criticised Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary — who had said that Monarch would ‘not survive the winter’ — as ‘irresponsible and unhelpful’, urging Monarch staff to ‘ignore him’. Seven days later, the company folded.
Swaffield defended the email to MailOnline, insisting that he still thought that Monarch could still be saved when he sent the email.
‘I had to try to ensure that we could, you know, keep people calm and confident,’ he said. ‘Monarch was on a restructuring journey.
‘We were pursuing multiple options, including the sale of the entire company, including the sale of assets and including other strategic options. Unfortunately, we reached the end of the runway.
‘[But] on Friday we did think it was saveable. We didn’t reach the decision until over the weekend.’
He added: ‘The directors’ responsibility is to ensure that we have a reasonable prospect of avoiding an insolvent liquidation. We continued to have that prospect right up until the weekend.’
Monarch informed most customer of its demise by text or email – but many also claim they have yet to hear from them
Monarch passengers arrive in Birmingham Airport last night after flying back via a repatriation flight. 12,000 came back the UK yesterday
The company, which officially went bust at 4am yesterday, launched a major sales push in a bid to stave off collapse. This continued as it teetered on the brink.
One promotional offer by the company – seen by the Daily Mail – was sent to thousands via text message and email on Friday.
It stated: ‘Hooray for payday! Find the feeling with 1000s of seats at £30 to Spain and Portugal.’
Similar emails and text messages were sent to those on Monarch’s mailing list in the preceding weeks as the airline fought for survival.
Another – titled ‘Escape to Sunny Tenerife’ – advertised tickets to the popular holiday destination for £39. Monarch finally quadrupled the price of flights on Sunday to stop more people buying them.
The cynical sales offensive came despite the fact that Monarch’s owners Greybull Capital had already appointed KPMG to explore options for the airline, including selling it off or putting it into administration.
Consumer experts expressed disbelief that Monarch went to such lengths to push its flights despite knowing it could collapse.
Guy Anker, managing editor of website Moneysavingexpert, said: ‘If Monarch was trying to flog thousands of seats when it knew its future was in the balance, those who paid in good faith will understandably be utterly furious.’
Some 110,000 customers overseas are being flown home after the firm became the largest airline ever in the UK to plunge into administration. 12,000 were flown back to the UK in the past 24 hours and the rescue operation will take two weeks.
A further three quarters of a million held future bookings with the firm and many now face a nail-biting wait to discover if they will be left out of pocket.
Last night it emerged that Monarch, the UK’s fifth biggest airline, bombarded passengers with adverts for cheap flights shortly before calling in the administrators.
To prevent passengers being stranded abroad, the CAA has organised flights to repatriate 110,000 people currently abroad over the next two weeks. So far 55,793 have notified the Civil Aviation Authority that they are stranded overseas.
Chartering 34 planes, borrowed from rival airlines such as Qatar Airlines and EasyJet, will cost the taxpayer £60million.
Around 700 flights will operate over the next two weeks, but Monarch customers who are abroad after that will have to pay for their own flights. The biggest numbers will be through Spanish airports.
A tearful Monarch worker hugs a security guard at the Luton headquarters yesterday after clearing her desk. 2,100 staff have lost their jobs and left with their belongings today
The Department for Transport said that by 9pm last night 6,125 passengers had been repatriated on 35 flights. Another 31 late night flights were scheduled to carry a further 5,718.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: ‘This is a distressing situation for British holidaymakers abroad – and my first priority is to help them get back to the UK.
‘That is why I have ordered the country’s biggest ever peacetime repatriation to fly 110,000 passengers who could otherwise have been stranded abroad.’
The Government said it plans to recoup much of the money spent on the repatriation by securing refunds from card providers.
The CAA estimated that only half of the 860,000 Monarch passengers affected have ATOL protection, meaning many could be left out of pocket.
Monarch passengers arriving at airports across the UK for early morning flights yesterday said they were greeted with the news of the collapse when they reached the terminal or queued to check in.
Edinburgh-based IT worker Alan Cooper was due to fly from Manchester to Lanzarote with Monarch on Thursday. The 37-year-old held eight tickets for his family, his wife’s sister and her family.
Andrew Swaffield, former CEO Monarch Airlines, apologised again today and told MailOnline that decisions made before the collapse were ‘in the interest of the highest number of consumers’
He said he had to dig deep for replacement flights but as he used a credit card to make his original booking he expects to be given a full refund.
‘We’re booked up to fly the same dates from the same airport, for roughly same we paid Monarch, and should get credit card refund on the Monarch flights,’ he said.
Administrators confirmed last night that 1,858 Monarch staff have been made redundant, with the remaining 250 staying on to help repatriate customers and wind down the company.
Mr Grayling has urged airlines to keep their prices ‘reasonable’ amid claims they have inflated prices to cash in on Monarch’s demise.
Mr Swaffield said the ‘root cause’ of the fall in Monarch’s revenue was terror attacks in Egypt and Tunisia, and the ‘decimation’ of the Turkish tourist industry. It has since lost out in a price war for Mediterranean tourist hotspots with rivals such as EasyJet and Ryanair.
Monarch could not be reached for comment. Greybull said the decision to promote cheap flights was a matter for Monarch.
Have a good week everyone! Monarch chief sent upbeat email telling staff to ignore speculation over airline’s future just SEVEN DAYS before it went bust leaving them all without jobs
The Monarch Airlines chief executive sent an upbeat email telling staff to ‘have a good week!’ just seven days before it went bust, MailOnline can reveal.
Andrew Swaffield told staff to and ignore speculation over airline’s future as it nosedived towards administration.
But just a week later Monarch collapsed leaving them all without jobs and 110,000 passengers stranded abroad.
In his email, airline boss Swaffield criticised Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary’s remarks about Monarch’s future.
Driven: Andrew Swaffield, who was brought in to help rescue Monarch, describes himself as ‘passionate’ about polo and said it consumes him at weekends
‘Michael O’Leary’s recent press statement that Monarch would not survive the winter has caused much consternation, not least amongst our employees judging by the number of you that have written to me about it.
‘He is clearly trying to manage a crisis of his own making with his pilot shortage and his aggressive attack is irresponsible and unhelpful.
‘Again, my advice is to ignore him.
‘I realise that speculation and rumour is stressful for you. I cannot stop stories appearing in the media, but I will try to keep you up to date as much as I can.
‘]These are challenging times, but the best way you can help is – as always – to continue to look after our customers day in day out, to do your job to the best of your abilities and do not believe everything you read in the press.’
He signed off with: ‘Have a good week everyone wherever you are based.’
Meanwhile MailOnline can reveal Swaffield splashed out tens of thousands of pounds a year on a private polo team while the business collapsed.
The aviation chief plays for his hugely successful Alcedo team which was in action just weeks before Monarch went bust.
Experts believe the 50-year-old spends at least £60,000 per season on top flight players and horses. His best player, James Harper, 37, a household name in the polo world, is said to command fees of about £3,000 per game.
Two Monarch staff sob at its Luton headquarters as more than 2,100 people lost their jobs today
Polo player: Andrew Swaffield taught himself to play polo and now runs the hugely successful Alcedo team, which won at least two trophies this summer
Unlike Monarch, Alcedo enjoyed an ‘outstanding season’ this year, according to the prestigious Cowdray Park Polo Club, the ‘home of polo’ where Princes Charles, William and Harry have also played.
Reflecting the investment into the team, Mr Swaffield’s Alcedo won the prestigious Benson Cup at Cowdray Park in July.
The Monarch boss has previously told how he is ‘consumed’ by polo after teaching himself the sport later in life.
The youngest of four siblings growing up on a council estate in Bournemouth, Swaffield developed an early interest in horses. ‘I was always interested in horses but we couldn’t afford it,’ he told the Daily Mail. ‘So I got a book about them instead.’
As he rose within the aviation industry, his wealth grew and allowed him to realise his childhood dream in style.
‘That’s been my passion and that consumes me now at weekends,’ he said.
He is thought to own four horses, each of which is estimated to cost between £15,000 and £30,000. A polo associate compared his horses to ‘the equivalent of a fleet of BMW Three Series’.
‘The more money you spend, the better the team performs,’ a source said.
‘He plays at the top end of the sport, using the best horses, the best players and the best fields,’ they added.
‘It’s a level at which only the wealthiest people can compete. It must cost him at least £60,000 a season, probably several times that sum.’
Alcedo played competitively as recently as 2nd September, in the semi-finals of the 2017 Six-Goal West Sussex Cup. A report of the team’s victory in the Benson Cup in July concluded: ‘Another Sunday and another trophy for a delighted Andrew Swaffield.’
In 2015, Swaffield was listed on the Financial Times / OUTstanding list of the most powerful LGBT executives in the world.
Today, at his smart £600,000 bungalow in West Sussex, his partner William Low said: ‘I’m afraid he’s not here. He’s busy.’
Asked whether he was dealing with the fall-out from the airline going into administration Low said: ‘He’s not going to be here all day or this evening.’
The house, which the Monarch boss shares with his partner, has also recently been sold and has a ‘Sale Agreed’ at its entrance. There was also a blue Mercedes car parked on the drive.
A neighbour said: ‘I should imagine Andrew is going to be very, very busy. We didn’t see him all weekend so I presume he was in negotiations and talks with the Civil Aviation Authority.
‘It’s shame, but Andrew is a really nice guy. I’m pretty sure he tried everything to save the company.’