THAI told to speed up ฿156bn new aircraft purchase plan

[webfact]

THAI told to speed up ฿156bn baht new aircraft purchase plan

 

 

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 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.

 

Explaining why he wanted to accelerate the procurement plan, Mr. Saksayam said that the new fleet will generate revenue and reduce costs while increasing THAI’s competitiveness.

 

Source: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/thai-told-to-speed-up-฿156bn-baht-new-aircraft-purchase-plan/

 

-- © Copyright Thai PBS 2019-10-29

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[BuckBee]

What they buying this with, shirt buttons !

They close to bankruptcy, you would have to be mad boot a flight with them on that risk alone let alone overpricing and poor service issues .

Edited October 28, 2019 by BuckBee

[Oziex1]

So Thai fly's again, new planes and a motivated efficient staff, I don't know why they didn't of it  before. 

[smutcakes]

I thought just last week this had been shelved and they had been told to review and look at leasing. Perhaps the cash flows have noe been aligned correctly for approval....

[Fex Bluse]

Real reason is related to Thailand's trade imbalance with the US. 

 

Thailand promised to buy more to balance trade. 

 

MUCH better article available outside Thailand, as always. See below. 

 

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=Asia+Times+Trump's+Trade+Wrath+Turns+on+Thailand&s=g

 

 

"During a White House visit in October 2017, coup-maker Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha vowed to purchase as many as 20 Boeing passenger planes for national flag carrier Thai Airways and US-made military hardware including helicopters." 

 

Edited October 28, 2019 by Fex Bluse

[PatOngo]

They are on the right track here, if you want to make a little money, start with a LOT!

[Cadbury]

57 minutes ago, webfact said:

THAI told to speed up ฿156bn baht new aircraft purchase plan

The other day they were saying Thai Airways was virtually going bankrupt and having a wheels up belly crash landing.

Today all problems are solved and it's.......... up, up and away, the skies are ours.

Amazing what a few motivating words from PM Prayut in their shell-like ear can do.

 

[Curt1591]

Now the employees will have to work even harder!

[davehowden]

Thai could probably get a good deal on 20 Boeing 737 Max if they hurry !

[leeneeds]

off the shelf and ready to go, blow the money ever so quickly without addressing the issues,    Nice to have new toys to gloat over, scratch the surface on the staffing and big banana’s in head office who only offer roadblocks on getting the business model right , the problems remain in place. And for all to see it is, and will be a further blight on the economy.

[colinneil]

Mr Sakyasam said the new fleet would generate income, and also be much more comfortable for me and all the other hi-sos who fly free with Thai.

Edited October 28, 2019 by colinneil

[notmyself]

It's not just the planes <deleted>

 

[steven100]

Ah  ….. so now there's no problem !   everything is just fine & dandy   !

let's get those 38 new planes up and running and this will generate income so all is good   !!!!!!!

 

and we all thought they had no cash …….  silly us   !!

 

Dreamer  …. nothing but a dreamer  …. lol  

[AussieBob18]

Thailand is going to lose its GSP status benefits worldwide - not just with USA.  The Thai billionaires are just not going to be able to hide their wealth under the blanket of millions of poor Thais for much longer.  Sure they will buy a few planes and get this threat removed, but it is only a matter of time before USA decides to stop propping up an economy that is aligning itself more and more with China. 

 

In the past decades, the Thai Authorities were able to keep a balance between USA and China, and they did it very well.  These current Junta Authorities are unaware and/or unable to maintain that balance and have clearly shown their preference for China.  Meanwhile Vietnam is making more and more positive overtones to USA, and is getting into a more balanced realtiuonship.  They may even go further and start joining Taiwan and Japan and India and Sth Korea as SEAsian economies more aligned with USA than to China. And over time USA will support them more an more, and will support Thailand less and less.

 

Like many others in the World, the USA was waiting to see what happenned after the Junta went to the election.  What has resulted is in effect more of the same.  Going forward if Thailand does not realign itself and get back to a more balanced economic relationship with the two super powers, then USA will give more and more support to those that are either 'balanced' or are in fact 'aligned' - and less and less to those that are aligned with China. 

 

There was a recent Poll taken in Vietnam and it showed that USA was the most favoured country and that China was the least favoured.   That USA has recently supported Vietnam in its territotial 'battles' with China in the Oceans nearby, is just part of an ever increasing re-alignment of their economic relationships.  I believe that Thailand is going in the opposite driection and after USA gets a few Billion from the planes sales, the USA will resume its strategic economic re-alignments in SEAsia - and Thailand will lose out. 

 

Thailand has aligned itself with the Chinese tourism at the expense of tourism from other areas and is losing out because of that. Thailand is going to continue this approach under the Junta and it is going to lose out more and more going forward. 

   

[Somtamnication]

The commission window is closing. Hurry up!

[Dukeleto]

Last week it was close to collapse, this week it’s spend! Superb logic. Smacks of the old brown envelope had the strongest hand in the poker game between common sense and graft. 

[Bob12345]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Explaining why he wanted to accelerate the procurement plan, Mr. Saksayam said that the new fleet will generate revenue and reduce costs while increasing THAI’s competitiveness.

Thats some beautiful logic.

 

My wife always tells me the same when I ask her to spend less on clothing. She tells me that to spend less she needs to buy more and mostly in bulk to get discounts so the average price goes down and it is actually cheaper saving us a lot of money.

Edited October 29, 2019 by Bob12345
spelling

[fxe1200]

2 hours ago, smutcakes said:

I thought just last week this had been shelved and they had been told to review and look at leasing. Perhaps the cash flows have noe been aligned correctly for approval....

There is money to be made in the purchase of new planes. Some of it will end up offshore, promise. And the taxpayer will cover the bill.

 

[30la]

Great! Thai is now bankrupt and you give it 156 Bn?
Is it part of the agreement with Trump? Probably Boing will be the planes to buy!

[30la]

Would you do a heart transplant to a person at the end of life ????

[bluesea]

BOT must be printing money like crazy to for fill these Dreams..

[owenm]

A workforce of about 20,000 staff appears to be very top heavy for an airline the size of Thai.. Most airlines in dire financial difficulties would be looking at culling their staff by at least 20%, improving their overall efficiencies and major cost cutting.

 

Just look at the turnaround of QANTAS under the reins of Irish Alan Joyce. From nearly bankrupt to very profitable again in a span of a few years. 

[new2here]

I think the liquidation issue was somewhat overblown... if that were the case, I think we would have heard credible reports of lenders and banks (like credit card issuers) upping their reserve levels on future-date tickets.. 

 

Thai (as it is with any carrier) won’t be able to effectively “save” their way into a profit, so while I think they do need to take hard look at staff head count, work optimization and such, they will have to invest as well; with an eye towards revenue increases.

 

Thais 744s are on average 20yrs old with some dating back to 1993 and that’s got to be costly not only on the maintenance side, but hard on their operational reliability and of course fuel use... same can be said for a handful of their initial 772s and even some early 773s with many dating back to the mid- to late 90s...

 

So, I think they’ll have to invest (be that purchase or lease) in order to lower their ongoing maintenance costs, up their reliability rate and put out a more competitive hard (cabin) product when compared to their regional competitors.

 

Lowering their fares (which I cede aren’t always that competitive right now as it is) without also doing something to lower their associated cost structure just isn’t sustainable - so I think by doing a fleet renovation, while the initial investment will be high, I think the short term and mid-range cost savings will allow them to make fares more competitive.

 

I think the biggest change will have to be the hardest one - a corporate cultural shift... and for the most part that starts at the top.. this issue I think will be one that will take years to really change as those who may be more “entrenched” will either have to learn to adopt or leave ... and newer staff will have to be better trained from day 1.

 

[steven100]

9 minutes ago, new2here said:

I think the liquidation issue was somewhat overblown... if that were the case, I think we would have heard credible reports of lenders and banks (like credit card issuers) upping their reserve levels on future-date tickets.. 

disagree …..  if the CEO has to come out and make a statement last week that things are not so good and it's dire then that tells me that it's very serious. They are not going to admit a liquidation crisis because whoever says those exact words will lose face badly and Thai's just don't admit like that. 

I wouldn't be buying any tickets on Thai that's for sure.

[davehowden]

14 minutes ago, new2here said:

I think the liquidation issue was somewhat overblown... if that were the case, I think we would have heard credible reports of lenders and banks (like credit card issuers) upping their reserve levels on future-date tickets.. 

 

Thai (as it is with any carrier) won’t be able to effectively “save” their way into a profit, so while I think they do need to take hard look at staff head count, work optimization and such, they will have to invest as well; with an eye towards revenue increases.

 

Thais 744s are on average 20yrs old with some dating back to 1993 and that’s got to be costly not only on the maintenance side, but hard on their operational reliability and of course fuel use... same can be said for a handful of their initial 772s and even some early 773s with many dating back to the mid- to late 90s...

 

So, I think they’ll have to invest (be that purchase or lease) in order to lower their ongoing maintenance costs, up their reliability rate and put out a more competitive hard (cabin) product when compared to their regional competitors.

 

Lowering their fares (which I cede aren’t always that competitive right now as it is) without also doing something to lower their associated cost structure just isn’t sustainable - so I think by doing a fleet renovation, while the initial investment will be high, I think the short term and mid-range cost savings will allow them to make fares more competitive.

 

I think the biggest change will have to be the hardest one - a corporate cultural shift... and for the most part that starts at the top.. this issue I think will be one that will take years to really change as those who may be more “entrenched” will either have to learn to adopt or leave ... and newer staff will have to be better trained from day 1.

 

Sounds like your the man for the job !!

[zydeco]

3 hours ago, Curt1591 said:

Now the employees will have to work even harder!

Now the employees will have to work even harder!

[zydeco]

19 minutes ago, new2here said:

I think the liquidation issue was somewhat overblown... if that were the case, I think we would have heard credible reports of lenders and banks (like credit card issuers) upping their reserve levels on future-date tickets.. 

 

Thai (as it is with any carrier) won’t be able to effectively “save” their way into a profit, so while I think they do need to take hard look at staff head count, work optimization and such, they will have to invest as well; with an eye towards revenue increases.

 

Thais 744s are on average 20yrs old with some dating back to 1993 and that’s got to be costly not only on the maintenance side, but hard on their operational reliability and of course fuel use... same can be said for a handful of their initial 772s and even some early 773s with many dating back to the mid- to late 90s...

 

So, I think they’ll have to invest (be that purchase or lease) in order to lower their ongoing maintenance costs, up their reliability rate and put out a more competitive hard (cabin) product when compared to their regional competitors.

 

Lowering their fares (which I cede aren’t always that competitive right now as it is) without also doing something to lower their associated cost structure just isn’t sustainable - so I think by doing a fleet renovation, while the initial investment will be high, I think the short term and mid-range cost savings will allow them to make fares more competitive.

 

I think the biggest change will have to be the hardest one - a corporate cultural shift... and for the most part that starts at the top.. this issue I think will be one that will take years to really change as those who may be more “entrenched” will either have to learn to adopt or leave ... and newer staff will have to be better trained from day 1.

 

It'll be easier just to cut maintenance. 

[Inepto Cracy]

Are these folks born stupid or does it come naturaly???

555 stupidity has no brakes.

"I have no money, so I will buy 38 super new planes, then we will be good again"

What are you thinking non round eye???

Are farangs this ....ed?

NO.

555

[Thomas J]

7 hours ago, Cadbury said:

THAI told to speed up ฿156bn baht new aircraft purchase plan

That is amazing.  CEO says the company is teetering on bankruptcy and they want to embark on buying more new planes.  Who would finance them?  Unless it is the Thai government a lender has to fear being the owner of now some used aircraft.  Thai does not seem to understand that the equipment on virtually every airline is viewed identically.  Either a Boeing or Airbus.  However, the fares are markedly different between Thai and virtually every other airline.  That means they have less than a full airplane which renders them not cost effective. That won't change with 36 new planes.  

[Bangkok Barry]

Have I got this right? Last week the airline was declared by its own President to be on the verge of bankruptcy, and this week it has 156 billion baht they are being urged to spend on new planes.