Airline News
THAI veterans offer help to keep flag carrier flying
October 2nd 2015
A group of ten Thai Airways International (THAI) veterans, with a combined working experience of 300 years at the flag carrier, has offered assistance to the airline for a token fee of 10.60 baht ($0.29) to help it avoid bankruptcy, the Bangkok Post has reported. Read More » If THAI accepts the proposition and it does lead to improved performance, they stand ready to pay a penalty fee of 106 baht ($2.9). The proposed fee is understood to mimic the 10.6 million baht the airline is paying Wayne Pearce, a former head of Oman Air, for a six-month stint as commerce and marketing adviser at THAI.
Capt. Jothin Pamon-montri, who retired from THAI after 35 years in 1996, when he was executive vice-president for quality and safety assurance, insisted the offer was made in good faith as the veterans were gravely concerned about the bleak prospects of the carrier. "We feel it is our duty to return something to the organisation where we spent much of our lifetime working," said Capt. Jothin, a seasoned pilot. "There is absolutely no issue of conflict of interest between our members and THAI.”
Fifty-five-year-old THAI’s latest half-year results showed some improvement, but the carrier is still in the red with 2015 losses projected at 297 million baht ($8.22 million), compared with the previous year's massive loss of 10.9 billion baht. Analysts are concerned the carrier’s total fiscal year losses could exceed the estimated 297 million by a wide margin. THAI widened its second-quarter loss from 7.7 billion in the year-ago quarter to 12.8 billion baht ($378 million) this year.
The veterans have criticised some of the airline's recent decisions, such as the suspension of Bangkok-Madrid flights, citing losses. Capt. Jothin said the route should have been maintained because its traffic would feed THAI's regional and domestic networks, strengthening THAI’s overall traffic.
At press time, current THAI president, Charamporn Jotikasthira, had neither accepted nor declined the proposition.
THAI is facing stiff competition, not least from the Gulf carriers. Emirates Airline last week requested to be allocated a dedicated area at Suvarnabhumi’s under-construction satellite terminal through the UAE’s ambassador to Thailand. It said the current number of check-in counters and conveyor belts it has been given caused unnecessary inconvenience to its passengers. "Areas at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports are fully used. Whether the service areas can be expanded will be considered. Thai Airways International will join the discussion for mutual benefit," Thai transport minister, Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said. "As Emirates uses Thailand as its gateway to Asia, can THAI use the UAE's areas to connect to Europe? This will be considered in detail," he said.
Thai Lion Air (TLA) has passed the International Air Transport Organization’s (IATA’s) Operational Safety Audit in a ‘record ten months’, the carrier’s chief, Aswin Yangkirativorn, told the Bangkok Post. The TLA boss added this should prompt Thailand’s DCA to re-certify the carrier as part of a larger process aimed at regaining the trust and endorsement of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), after it downgraded Thailand’s safety rating in April. The decision caused several countries to ban all new flights operated by Thailand-registered airlines in their respective airspaces.
Thai AirAsia (TAA) last week started operations from its newly-created base at U-Tapao Airport, near Pattaya. In addition to the already launched services to Nanchang and Nanning, which TAA said had load factors of 70%-75% during the first days of operations, the LCC on Tuesday said it would add services to Macau, Singapore and Udon Thani from November 27.
