thomas cook offers redundancy to staff

y and confusion is spreading in the travel industry as it battles to take stock following the outbreak of war in Afghanistan.

As fears grow of longer-term military action, Thomas Cook has given its 16,000-strong UK workforce the option of taking voluntary redundancy, unpaid leave or reducing their hours in a bid to cut costs.

A memo from chief executive Alan Stewart has given has given staff until the end of the month to respond. The group, which would not put a figure on how many staff it hoped to shed, warned compulsory cutbacks will be worse if the response is poor.

The operator admitted it is also considering freezing salaries and opening up extended career breaks.

The move is the latest bombshell to hit the UK trade. Operators are being forced to delay November brochure launches and review Christmas advertising plans and 2002 discounts.