TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes says he has held talks with the government to discuss “whether parts of Thomas Cook may be kept afloat as a going concern”, and pressed business secretary Andrea Leadsom on Tui’s inheritance of a “dominant market position in the tour industry”.

The TSSA has called on the Competition and Markets Authority to launch an inquiry into the collapse of Thomas Cook to investigate the impact it will have on competition in the travel sector.

“Our priority is to ensure our members have jobs,” said Cortes. “I’m pleased the government is looking at what can be put in place and understands the liquidators have a legal obligation to identify the parts of the business which can be sold as a going concern.

“I’m reassured this process is now in place, although it would have been preferable if the government would have taken a stake in the company to prevent its collapse.

“There are also fears the public interest is not served by the domination of the market place by one major operator,” Cortes added.

Tui didn’t respond for TTG’s request for comment on the TSSA’s comments.