Thai in Trouble.

[drron]

The airline President has opened up on it's troubles.

It's Official: Thai Airways In Crisis Mode - Live and Let's Fly

Thai Airways is in crisis mode, forced into a corner by fierce competition and unable to come up wtih a winning strategy. How can Thai turns things around?

liveandletsfly.boardingarea.com

I also doubt much will change.

 

[p--and--t]

A different take on the same subject

Thai Airways In Crisis: Fleet Renewal Project Aborted And Airline Being “In Risk Of Closure” After Losses Mount

Thai Airways financial crisis is coming home to roost!

loyaltylobby.com

 

[samh004]

Sounds like they have the same problem that MH has... used as a private service for pollies who get things for free and help them remain unprofitable. At the same time, I believe they've both recently devalued their loyalty programs, which has probably scared customers away.

Their total losses translate to AUD$13.5B!

 

[Happy Trails]

And another - take your pick:

Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) is not at risk of shutting down and recent news reports about the airline's situation were "misinterpreted", THAI president Sumeth Damrongchaitham insisted on Wednesday.

He was responding to media reports about a possible closure during remarks he made to high-ranking THAI staff.

He said the remarks were to encourage staff to make an all-out effort to ensure the struggling airline's rehabilitation plan succeeds.

Mr Sumeth said the remarks made during a discussion with executives on Tuesday were "misinterpreted" as meaning the airline faced possible closure.

Thai Airways not at risk of shutting down, says airline president

Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) is not at risk of shutting down and recent news reports about the airline

www.bangkokpost.com

 

[MEL_Traveller]

I dunno where they're losing money from? Ever been on an 'empty' TG flight? I can remember one, out of dozens, where it was maybe 60% full. The rest have been close to 100%. And their fares - at least in economy - aren't particularly cheap. Business class fares are around the industry average ($3K AU-Asia and $5-6K to Europe).

Maybe costs and overheads? Maybe the 747s and other widebodies they're flying BKK-HKT as tag traffic (basically for free).

 

[p--and--t]

I dunno where they're losing money from? Ever been on an 'empty' TG flight? I can remember one, out of dozens, where it was maybe 60% full. The rest have been close to 100%. And their fares - at least in economy - aren't particularly cheap. Business class fares are around the industry average ($3K AU-Asia and $5-6K to Europe).

Maybe costs and overheads? Maybe the 747s and other widebodies they're flying BKK-HKT as tag traffic (basically for free).

Try corruption, freebies for the well connected, considerably more staff on the payroll for the same work than other airlines to start with....... (similar problems as MH, but they have also had reduced payloads due to the well known fatal incidents)

 

[moa999]

And growing competition from the LCCs which have I suspect cooked their domestic and short-haul goose, much like MH

Now 6 LCCs (from 4 groups) in Thailand

Thailand low cost airlines: rapid growth as fleet triples in 5 years

Thailand's low-cost carrier (LCC) sector has grown rapidly over the past five years, with the LCC fleet more than tripling in size from 42 to 136 aircraft. LCCs now account for 45% of Thailand's total commercial aircraft fleet and over 60% of the narrowbody fleet.

centreforaviation.com

 

[drron]

Try corruption, freebies for the well connected, considerably more staff on the payroll for the same work than other airlines to start with....... (similar problems as MH, but they have also had reduced payloads due to the well known fatal incidents)

There are literally thousands in the Thai Royal Family.The Great grandfather of the present King had 92 consorts and produced 77 surviving children.

List of consorts and children of Chulalongkorn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[turtlemichael]

The Great grandfather of the present King had 92 consorts and produced 77 surviving children.

List of consorts and children of Chulalongkorn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

That's Mondays covered. What did he do on Tuesdays?

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Try corruption, freebies for the well connected, considerably more staff on the payroll for the same work than other airlines to start with.......

All those things But fundamentally if those were resolved, the actual business should be sound.

 

[samh004]

Thai Airways International Plc (THAI) is not at risk of shutting down and recent news reports about the airline's situation were "misinterpreted", THAI president Sumeth Damrongchaitham insisted on Wednesday.

I get that his intention might have been just to scare staff into making the right choices for the airline, but if the airline has made a loss in each of the last few years, now totalling over AUD$13.5 Billion, and this is stopping your largest shareholder from accelerating fleet changes which will help, not hinder your bottom line, then I think the reality is that you are in a lot of trouble. Perhaps the government wont let them fail, but having had a look at their fleet I think they need to simplify and get some newer, more efficient planes. Probably also lay-off a large part of their workforce that isn't actually necessary.

But maybe that's all this was, part of the song and dance that companies do to restructure. I remember QF's big losses came before a massive restructure and then nice profits. You have to frame things to get anything done.

 

[jase05]

And growing competition from the LCCs which have I suspect cooked their domestic and short-haul goose, much like MH

Now 6 LCCs (from 4 groups) in Thailand

Thailand low cost airlines: rapid growth as fleet triples in 5 years

Thailand's low-cost carrier (LCC) sector has grown rapidly over the past five years, with the LCC fleet more than tripling in size from 42 to 136 aircraft. LCCs now account for 45% of Thailand's total commercial aircraft fleet and over 60% of the narrowbody fleet.

centreforaviation.com

Yep, we travel to Thailand fairly regularly and I’ve definitely noticed the influx of LCC’s in recent years particularly in high tourist areas like HKT.
I’d estimate there is now close to 60 flights a day from BKK to HKT and TG probably only has about 8-10 of those. Noticed a big push from VJ last time we were there, they were selling flights for ridiculous prices

 

[samh004]

Yep, we travel to Thailand fairly regularly and I’ve definitely noticed the influx of LCC’s in recent years particularly in high tourist areas like HKT.
I’d estimate there is now close to 60 flights a day from BKK to HKT and TG probably only has about 8-10 of those. Noticed a big push from VJ last time we were there, they were selling flights for ridiculous prices

Doesn't TG also own/operate WE (Thai Smile) though? Perhaps they need to hand certain routes to the lower-cost arm.

 

[jase05]

Doesn't TG also own/operate WE (Thai Smile) though? Perhaps they need to hand certain routes to the lower-cost arm.

Yeah they do have WE as their LCC arm but I can’t recall seeing a lot of them at HKT last time. Was far more AK and VJ. Also depends if PG is classed as a LCC as they have a decent share of that route. DD and SL also seemed to have a decent footprint in HKT aswell

 

[amaroo]

There are literally thousands in the Thai Royal Family.The Great grandfather of the present King had 92 consorts and produced 77 surviving children.

List of consorts and children of Chulalongkorn - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now that's worthy of a MeToo movement ..... sadly, probably not.

 

[Happy Trails]

All sorted:

Transport Minister Saksayam has ordered Thai Airways International to conclude its plan to purchase a fleet of 38 new aircraft, to replace its aging[sic] fleet at an estimated cost of 156 billion baht, within six months.

The minister also ordered the national flag carrier to streamline its operations and increase the efficiency of its 20,000 staff in order to cut costs, while maintaining or improving the quality of its services.

THAI told to speed up ฿156bn baht new aircraft purchase plan - Thai PBS World

Transport Minister Saksayam has ordered Thai Airways International to conclude its plan to purchase a fleet of 38 new aircraft, to replace its aging fleet at

www.thaipbsworld.com

 

[moa999]

That's US$5.2bn (or A$7.53bn) for those playing along at home.

And about 3/4 of Annual Revenue.. not profit.. Revenue

 

[dajop]

Amazing Thailand ...

 

[The man with no name]

Thai are regularly the highest price carrier in Y between Australia and Thailand. Surly their wage costs are a fraction of what Qantas pay. Something doesn’t seem right

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thai are regularly the highest price carrier in Y between Australia and Thailand. Surly their wage costs are a fraction of what Qantas pay. Something doesn’t seem right

Yeah. All their flights I have been on have usually been full. And commanding decent fares. As alluded to above it's likely the overheads/huge staff numbers/VIPs (etc) rather than the business of actually flying that are costing the money.