ABTA chief executive Mark Tanzer has called on the Government to crack on with its review of airline insolvency protection.
He said the review, commissioned after the collapse of Monarch two years ago, was still sitting with the Secretary of State for transport.
"Unfortunately, it just sits, and change will come too late to help in the case of Thomas Cook," he said.
But Tanzer said the collapse of Thomas Cook would serve to alert Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Transport, to the need for action.
"Now is the time to push forward with it and I think the CAA will support our position," he said.
"The European aviation industry is ripe for consolidation and I think it’s better to be prepared."
Addressing delegates at the ABTA Convention this week, Tanzer said: "The review recognised the problem of an unfunded obligation – or political need – to repatriate, and recommended a risk-based insurance scheme to provide funds for repatriating stranded citizens. I call on the Government to launch now a full consultation on the findings of the review, and to come to a settled solution."
Tanzer praised the efforts of the CAA in the Thomas Cook repatriation and said it had demonstrated that package travel regulations, the ATOL scheme for flight packages and ABTA protection have worked.
"The funds are in place and capable teams have been working hard to look after customers," he said.
"Far from signalling the demise of the package holiday, the Thomas Cook failure has been its vindication."
