A group of stranded passengers raised money to pay the former Thomas Cook flight crew that volunteered to work the flight home for the passengers for free.

The British airline and tour operator Thomas Cook collapsed on Sept. 22 without warning, leaving roughly 150,000 passengers stranded and thousands of workers unemployed. The company’s failing launched the largest peacetime repatriation drive in British history.

On one repatriation flight from Cyprus to the United Kingdom, the plane used was owned by Thomas Cook. The flight crew worked for the company and lost their jobs when the company collapsed, but they agreed to work the flight for free so the stranded passengers could return home.

"They had volunteered to bring people home!" said one passenger on the flight, Michelle Jubb. "There was no food or trolley service, but they had managed to scrape together teabags and coffee so passengers could have a hot drink."

The grateful passengers wanted to reward the crew for their hospitality and raised money from the people on board to pay the crew.

"After a quick conversation with some other passengers we decided to do a collection for them, the passengers on the plane were so bloody generous, and the crew had something for their trouble," Jubb said.