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Thai Airways’ problems appear to be compounding with a perfect storm of an ageing fleet, a plateauing of tourist intake and increased competition from newer, more nimble budget airlines.

The country’s national pride and joy had a poor Q2 this year, compounding years of declining profit results. The  second quarter loss more than doubled losses for the same quarter last year as the global economic slowdown took a toll on the airline’s revenue.

Thai Airways reported a net loss of 6.88 billion baht in Q2, 2019. In the same quarter last year the loss was 3.1 billion baht.

Aviation analysts say the legacy airline struggles to operate with ageing aircraft, declining tourist arrivals and a strong Thai currency. In the past 12 months the Thai baht has appreciated 8% against the US dollar, and appreciated against many other world currencies affecting decisions of tourists to travel to Thailand.

Olav Seglem skrev: ↑12 aug 2019, 09:50 Håper det var en "null" for mye i antallet tidligere ansatte ?
Uansett er det mange

Whilst it’s always a generally pleasant experience flying Thai Airways, the airline, in a business sense, is a basket case racking up nearly a decade of losses, first under the Yingluck Shinawatra Government and then the military government of the NCPO.

Most people in aviation circles agree on the main challenges for the national carrier.

• Entrenched nepotism and cronyism
• Top heavy management
• Contracts for older staff which do not reflect aviation business realities in 2019
• Uncompetitive pricing

So do what QANTAS did in Australia in 2003.

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Thai Airways International (THAI) president Sumeth Damrongchaitham said on Tuesday that staff must cooperate with the airline's rehabilitation efforts because it is in a crisis and faces possible closure.

He sent his message to THAI executives during a training session at the airline's headquarters.

"Today I want staff to be united to overcome the obstacles. Otherwise, the national airline must close down. There is still time for a solution, but there is not much time," Mr Sumeth said.

He said that THAI had lost its market leadership on several routes to competitors, citing northern routes that had generated a third of THAI's revenue but were now dominated by low-cost airlines.

"The competition is very fierce this year," Mr Sumeth said. "THAI is really in a crisis. Next year it must do its best. If staff are still unaware and do nothing, they will not have enough time to fight back. Today very little time remains. Today there is no comfort zone. Everyone will die if the vessel sinks," .

tdr skrev: ↑22 okt 2019, 13:49 Ikke lovende når toppsjefen i Thai Airways nå uttaler seg om at de risikerer å måtte legge ned driften. Han ber de ansatte om å være med på å overkomme utfordringene med å få selskapet ut av krisen. Det finnes fortsatt tid å berge selskapet, men ikke mye tid.

Konkurransen er hard og Thai Airways har mistet andeler i flere markeder der de var ledende tidligere. Rutene i nord som tidligere sto for en tredjedel av omsetningen domineres i dag av lavprisselskap.

Det må kuttes kostnader på mange områder.

Første halvår tapte selskapet 6,44 milliarder baht noe som øker akkumulerte tap til vanvittige 280 milliarder baht!

Thai Airways har mer enn 20000 ansatte.


Thai Airways at risk of closure

The President of Thai Airways International says the airline is set to cancel six flight routes to Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar.

The Nation reports that Sumeth Damrongchaitham says the routes in question are all from Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport to Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh and Yangon.