Thai Airways faces more bad news with bigger losses in Q2

[norfolkandchance]

6 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

You are a lucky guy, look what I pay last time BKK-BRU-BKK

 

 

Bugger

[Soneva]

On 8/12/2019 at 5:22 AM, leeneeds said:

I fly Thai mostly myself, although the seats have somewhat lost their comfort by years of use, the direct flights offered is my main reason for choosing this Airline,  I found the meals good on my flights, 

The option to upgrade is something the airline should look at once the cabin doors are sealed, so many times I see the business section with only a few people, they could offer the upgrade for available seats after take off, and  after economy meal time, selling those seats for an extra 2 -300 dollars for the rest of a flight it would be something I would take up for the extra comfort.

 

No airline would ever allow in flight “upgrades.”  Not only is movement between cabins in flight against FAA regulations throughout the world, but it’s a stupid idea that would irritate high paying passengers. 

 

There ARE standby upgrades available subject to availability, on qualifying tickets, available for sale at the airport at the time of check in.  This is not widely advertised so as not to undercut demand for premium tickets, but it is an option available to anyone who knows about it. I often do this to upgrade from business to first class at a discounted price compared to purchasing an F ticket. 

 

As a government subsidized airline, and for the reasons mentioned in this article, looking at financials for Thai Airways does not always tell the whole truth.  Just because they are reporting losses, it does not mean things are necessarily that bad at the airline, it just isn’t a transparently operated airline.  There are many complicated factors that come into play. 

 

Per your idea of cheap upgrades, that’s always very complicated.  Offering discounted fares or upgrades to liberally also undercuts premium product demand, and therefore can actually lose money.  That’s why airline pricing is so complex, and discounted fares are subject to fare rules.  If a business or first class seat were so easy to upgrade into on the cheap, people would not pay full price for them.

 

 

[leeneeds]

2 hours ago, Soneva said:

No airline would ever allow in flight “upgrades.”  Not only is movement between cabins in flight against FAA regulations throughout the world, but it’s a stupid idea that would irritate high paying passengers. 

Funny that!  I have been able to upgrade on Philippines air line from Singapore to Davao on several occasions, not only my self but other passengers took up the offer, after take off, once the cabin doors were closed the purser of the flight came over the PA asking passengers to show who was interested in upgrading, 

[RJRS1301]

I too have been upgraded (foc) after cabin doors closed, just prior to push back, happened a couple of times both domestic and international

[dundas]

I usually fly Thai, mostly between Melbourne / Bkk / Osaka. 

 

Always economy and I've never had a bad flight.  Aircraft on these routes are mostly new or relatively new (A350 or A380), seat pitch is OK, food is OK-good, service ranges from fairly good to exemplary, toilets are always kept clean. Fares between Australia and Japan are normally competitive, especially as I normally take a stopover in Thailand. 

 

[nong38]

If THai airways were an independent concern they would have gone bankrupt years ago. The Government seem to be content to bail them out and keep the flag flying which is their choice, the money could be spent on local communities but there is no global kudos with building a metro system in Korat as opposed to seeing old airliners landing around the globe with a special monica on the tail fin.

The question is a simple one to answer if you want Thai Airways to be a winner get rid of the smilers you see and put in foreign people who know how to do the job because this lot, as the lot before and before clearly do not have a clue how to run an airline.

My first visit to Thailand 10 years ago was with Thai, got the message, never again.

[Burma Bill]

Bring in RUPERT HOGG, the former CEO of Cathay Pacific, who has just resigned over the Hong Kong problems.

[Fex Bluse]

6 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Bring in RUPERT HOGG, the former CEO of Cathay Pacific, who has just resigned over the Hong Kong problems.

The Ruptert. Him sound like the Farang.

 

This Thialand. We Thai.

 

We not need the Farang na.

[friend of siam]

On 8/16/2019 at 3:21 AM, Soneva said:

No airline would ever allow in flight “upgrades.”  Not only is movement between cabins in flight against FAA regulations throughout the world, but it’s a stupid idea that would irritate high paying passengers. 

 

There ARE standby upgrades available subject to availability, on qualifying tickets, available for sale at the airport at the time of check in.  This is not widely advertised so as not to undercut demand for premium tickets, but it is an option available to anyone who knows about it. I often do this to upgrade from business to first class at a discounted price compared to purchasing an F ticket. 

 

As a government subsidized airline, and for the reasons mentioned in this article, looking at financials for Thai Airways does not always tell the whole truth.  Just because they are reporting losses, it does not mean things are necessarily that bad at the airline, it just isn’t a transparently operated airline.  There are many complicated factors that come into play. 

 

Per your idea of cheap upgrades, that’s always very complicated.  Offering discounted fares or upgrades to liberally also undercuts premium product demand, and therefore can actually lose money.  That’s why airline pricing is so complex, and discounted fares are subject to fare rules.  If a business or first class seat were so easy to upgrade into on the cheap, people would not pay full price for them.

 

 

last time I had this TA chick...when we flew together me as passenger she on plane I would go straight first class but only had economy last minute....i remember her french was awesome

[hanuman2543]

On 8/12/2019 at 4:16 AM, KOZMO said:

Used to fly Thai from LAX to BKK when it was a direct flight. Did not mind the extra cost. Those 747"s are like the U S A F

 

B-52's. A very Strong plane, not plastic like the Tinker toy jets of Europe. Had a bad flight with almost 2 full hours of

 

Great Turbulence and Drastic altitude changes. Don't know how those wings stayed on. the Plastic Euro jets would of 

 

fallen apart or got lost somewhere. Well, the management will Bankrupt this Airline soon enough. Better buy allot of Black Paint

 

to cover over the Tail Emblems soon !!!

Are you talking about the superior products like the 737 Max Boeing is making ? 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

as the old saying goes: "WHEN YOU PAY PEANUTS YOU GET MONKEYS". THAI

airways, like most employees in thailand, paid it's workers starvation third world

salaries while charging the customers first world prices.

you can't stay competitive when your workers can hardly feed

themselves.

aventually all goes down.

maybe this is the story of thailand. a country that gets more and more

expensive, even more expensive than USA and EUROPE, while most

of the work force gets paid around 9000-12000 baht a month.

no, you can't get too far with such greed and stinginess.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

THAI airways management should look at singapore airlines and cathay pacific, to

how to stay profitable even with low budgets airlines all around you.

but no, instead they are full of stupid excuses and pathetic stories.

[madmen]

On 8/13/2019 at 7:13 PM, Oliver Holzerfilled said:

They absolutely rattle including the coat storage doors at the front swinging open on one flight if not others.  Ive taken at least 10 videos of takeoffs and landings on flights so i know my memory is not failing.  No comparison with the A380.

Nonsense

[Katipo]

"The Airline has been criticised for resisting changes to its business culture and upper management – long accused of cronyism, nepotism and inefficiencies."

 

"Aviation analysts say the legacy airline struggles to operate with ageing aircraft, declining tourist arrivals and a strong Thai currency."

 

I'm going to go with the former reasons, not the latter, as the primary reasons for the poor performance. Tourist numbers have been rising year on year (apparently), and I doubt the numbers of planes/seats Thai operates has been increasing to the same degree. Having said that, if most increases are from Chinese chartered/low Budget flights, they won't have been seeing any upswing. Prices for flights on Thai have been pretty stable over the last 3-5 years as well. There prices are sometimes higher (all things being equal, meaning margins should be higher too), but many are willing to accept this for a direct long haul flight. While Thai does operate some older aircraft like 747s and 777s, they also operate A380s and 787s too. Thai also offers comparatively more legroom in economy than most airlines. So yeah, there are things to complain about, but as someone who takes about a dozen long haul flights with them a year, on balance they weight favourably in my mind.

The "cronyism, nepotism and inefficiencies" on the other hand. Totally believable, and quite likrley the airline's biggest problem.