SURVEY: Thai Airways -- Save it or let it go?

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, Rancid said:

Where i live, Thai is the only direct flight. Have flown AA and Scoot quite a lot lately due largely to a closer airport, however they are uncomfortable to sleep and both haven't refunded airfares due to corona. Lets be honest they are cattle trucks. A friend was booked on Thai and was refunded.

 

I've never had a bad experience with Thai and it remains the most comfortable option. By the time you add up the never ending options on the so-called low cost carriers Thai isn't much more expensive. Pleased to see they will continue and will only be flying Thai in the future. Their financial issues are something for Thailand to sort out, not me.

Disagree on every point.

[talahtnut]

The Thai government stopped 'em flying

for this virus thing, enough to bust any

airline.

Thai gov. should pick up the checkbin,

also for every business in Thailand, however

humble.   

Or have we come to the Hunger Games 2020.

[Alex2554]

Why do you believe state enterprise must be profitable?

The Thai government can afford to subsidise Thai Airways. Up to them.

[OnTheGround]

4 minutes ago, Alex2554 said:

Why do you believe state enterprise must be profitable?

The Thai government can afford to subsidise Thai Airways. Up to them.

 

Because its often tax payers money, one way or another.

No private business would go bankrupt, then refinance time after time, multiple times.

 

Up to them, yes. That's why PM already warned them.

 

Edited May 10, 2020 by OnTheGround

[Fex Bluse]

9 hours ago, crobe said:

2) A new management team and board of directors with experience in aviation and turnarounds to be appointed, no political appointees, no air force appointees. Strict performance criteria on new team.

Such people would invariably be foreigners. And, that simply is impossible 

A farang laying off Thais in the airline would immediately be in grave danger. 

[Peterphuket]

10 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Wouldn't it be better to just let it go and buy a couple of learjets to truck the important people and their families around for free.

They already exist, what do you think about the "high-tech" jet fighters ?

[bwpage3]

5 hours ago, sitti said:

I would like to have THAI keep flying. Not only they are the most convenient for departure from BKK, their services on the ground and in the air are far superior to western airlines. Last time I flew BA first class, not only the seat was dirty but FA had some attitude. Maybe she had a bad day or something but very unprofessional of her to behave in such way while serving the passengers.

Really?

 

Then why isn't Thai Airlines rated in the top 10?

[bwpage3]

52 minutes ago, talahtnut said:

The Thai government stopped 'em flying

for this virus thing, enough to bust any

airline.

Thai gov. should pick up the checkbin,

also for every business in Thailand, however

humble.   

Or have we come to the Hunger Games 2020.

Thai Airways has been losing money for years.

 

Long before the virus started.

[Peterphuket]

About more then 10 years ago, it was a good company with high-standard services, but now....a big sh*t company.

That will not be okay anymore.

[torturedsole]

 

[Grumpy John]

I voted option 2 simply because the Thai government cannot walk away when it holds a 51% stake.   Give em time to get it right and hold on to it till the market is stable....then sell off. 

[BritManToo]

6 minutes ago, Peterphuket said:

They already exist, what do you think about the "high-tech" jet fighters ?

Not much good for trucking your wife, kids and granny around in.

Edited May 10, 2020 by BritManToo

[Peterphuket]

7 hours ago, Bluetongue said:

All those arguments are mostly true, although some I feel are a bit harsh loosely based probably on the TVF phenomena of many contributors abhorring the Thai way, which may or may not be good for the country, which is theirs. Mostly they would rather change the place to a boring miserable copy of their own boring miserable countries and much of the hatred probably comes from their bitter experiences and losses to Thai females. Plus their innate superiority and knowledge of the world.

 

The bottom line is they still fill planes up. I think the problems are up at the management level obviously. For me as a regular traveller to, and now resident of the place, many times over 30 years they have often been the only sensible option for me to use. I cant stand Don Muang anyway so wouldn't put myself out to go that way. My experiences on other airlines are no better and in some cases worse, Air Asia for instance a stewardess spending the entire flight in the cockpit, stopovers etc, nah give me a direct flight anytime. I understand people who fly more often may be more choosy and have more experiences with different carriers but thats my two bob's worth.

"Air Asia for instance a stewardess spending the entire flight in the cockpit, stopovers etc, nah give me a direct flight anytime"

Pardon, have you considered the huge different in price between the 2 airlines??

Last time my flight from HKG to BKK was canceled by Thai (March 2020) so I have to search a flight back to Bkk via Kuala Lumpur, Air Asia flies me back for nearly for free, then you don't hear me complain.

[Pilotman]

2 minutes ago, Grumpy John said:

I voted option 2 simply because the Thai government cannot walk away when it holds a 51% stake.   Give em time to get it right and hold on to it till the market is stable....then sell off. 

What National Asset has Thailand ever sold off totally, answer, not a one.  Thai will stay under government majority ownership and nobody in their right minds will respond to a call for cash from the other 49% share holders, to bail the airline out. The government are going to have to finance the airline all on their own some, just as other Nations are going to do, or will have to do in the end. I doubt that any airline in the world will attract private capital investors for many, many  years. Warren Buffet has shown the way.  Sell it all off and count the losses as a painful experience.    

[Almer]

This is a pointless survey, you need experience to vote and that very few of us have.

[torturedsole]

21 minutes ago, Almer said:

This is a pointless survey, you need experience to vote and that very few of us have.

Relax, it's a straw poll with no outcome.   

[Chopinbkk]

What's wrong with the Thai government financing a mediocre competitor? 
It is very much in the interest of us, the flying customers in the long run.
Sure they are <deleted>, corrupt and incompetent but we want competition - don't we?

[Youlike]

11 hours ago, pixelaoffy said:

Sums up Thailand that has this b****t loss of face that can't let Thai airways collapse , an airline with 'Thai' in the name can't be seen to fail , so it continues to pump billions down the drain in something that is a total failure ! People's lives in the country are being destroyed by emergency measures and this squalid junta lead gov have no qualms about throwing money down the drain  it doesn't have to this pathetic airline! This airline was doomed even before the world airline crisis struck !

Thai are very bad managers in general..they even can't manage all thai to drive the same direction on the roads.

 

So on a world scale for airlines they can only loose, loose loose..

[White Christmas13]

4 hours ago, Pilotman said:

correct, that is their primary duty. 

And did I say the opposite ?

[Max69xl]

12 hours ago, klauskunkel said:

Thai Airways is dead. Long live Nok Air.

Don't compare a small low budget airline with a state-owned international airline. It's not the same thing. Thai Airways will probably not be a 100% state-owned company in the future. Every country with state-owned airlines have problems financially. Especially now and in the future. 

[klauskunkel]

22 minutes ago, Max69xl said:

Don't compare a small low budget airline with a state-owned international airline. It's not the same thing. Thai Airways will probably not be a 100% state-owned company in the future. Every country with state-owned airlines have problems financially. Especially now and in the future. 

You must be fun at parties.

[daveAustin]

12 hours ago, crobe said:

4) LCC Thai Smile to be sold off - as this mostly operates out of Don Mueang it is not even a feeder for Thai

Hope not, love flying Thai Smile and have only flown Swampy with them since they were the only ones to do so. Not a bad word to say about them and the girls are to die for. Regards Thai, haven't flown them for years, but it would be a shame to see it fold... certainly needs sifting out the dead wood but.

[Muzzique]

Flew only one time with Thai airways and would never do so again. Its like an overpriced version of Ryanair. Seats too close together, poor food and entertainment, Bad check in experience and poor customer service.

 

Their long haul business class seating is like others economy. But I do have time for Thai Smiles. A totally different experience. For a low cost carrier they give more than you'd expect.

[NanLaew]

12 hours ago, Misterwhisper said:

Thai Airways has proven time and again to be a bottomless money pit that over the decades had to be repeatedly fed by the government with huge amounts of taxpayer money. Yet Thailand stubbornly holds on to it a a "national airline" for several reason; and few of them are sound.

 

Right at the top of course stands that wretched, misguided "image", as well as false pride. What's there to be proud about a grossly over-blown, inefficiently managed state company that makes nothing but but red figures?

 

Then of course there is the fact that way too many people personally profit from Thai Airways. It all starts with top management staffed by incompetents who only got their posts as a sort of reward for licking boot, pocketing unreasonably huge salaries. And not to forget the misguided policy - impossible in a private corporation - of ferrying around bigwigs and their entire extended families for free whenever they demand it. That can't be good for the balance sheets.

 

Thailand would lose absolutely nothing if Thai Airways were scrapped -- except some "face".

 

Belgium's national airline Sabena was dissolved a couple of decades ago. And look! Belgium is still here, and in fact doing rather well without a national carrier.

 

Then there was Hungary's flag carrier, Malev, which likewise was scrapped by the country's government due to its unprofitability. And look! Hungary still exists despite having no national carrier! And yes, travelers can still reach Budapest rather comfortably from virtually every corner of the world.

 

A few posts up, "crobe" formulated a quite sensible rescue plan for the airline. But... it is going to fail because several of his points would not go down all too well due to their impact on the vested interests of certain leeches groups affected by such measures.         

In the meantime, the Italian government has taken over their own national flying basket case Alitalia. I have flown Thai hundreds of times but my worst experiences haven't been with them. I only flew Alitalia once (no food or in-flight entertainment in Business Class) and the only things worse were PIA out of Karachi (no ground start unit so about 40 degrees C inside the cabin), Air Astana to Almaty (same meal twice and a grubby cloth towel instead of paper towels in the dunny) or Aeroflot domestic from Magadan (28" seat pitch in 3+3 seating for 8 hours).

 

Anyone recall Air Afrique?

Edited May 10, 2020 by NanLaew

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, talahtnut said:

The Thai government stopped 'em flying

for this virus thing, enough to bust any

airline.

Thai gov. should pick up the checkbin,

also for every business in Thailand, however

humble.   

Or have we come to the Hunger Games 2020.

Guess you don't get out much or read or watch any news.

[tjo o tjim]

Shut down completely for two weeks, fire all executives and senior managers, bring in a new outside management team, and develop a recovery plan.  Thai needs to exist... but not the way they are now.  It also needs to get out of the current non-performing senior executive appointments.

[torturedsole]

5 minutes ago, tjo o tjim said:

Shut down completely for two weeks, fire all executives and senior managers, bring in a new outside management team, and develop a recovery plan.  Thai needs to exist... but not the way they are now.  It also needs to get out of the current non-performing senior executive appointments.

Too late.

[Pilotman]

11 hours ago, White Christmas13 said:

And did I say the opposite ?

Why so sensitive, I was merely supporting your accurate statement?

[Greg O]

Like my golf pro says following my last lesson, "I recommend you take two weeks off from golf...and then quit" !

It worked....much happier now..55

Thai airways will continue until they run out of brown envelopes I reckon.

[Bluetongue]

15 hours ago, Peterphuket said:

"Air Asia for instance a stewardess spending the entire flight in the cockpit, stopovers etc, nah give me a direct flight anytime"

Pardon, have you considered the huge different in price between the 2 airlines??

Last time my flight from HKG to BKK was canceled by Thai (March 2020) so I have to search a flight back to Bkk via Kuala Lumpur, Air Asia flies me back for nearly for free, then you don't hear me complain.

To Brisbane and back has been about 1000 Au give or take for 30 years, direct flight. Now Air Asia does it, if you want to book ages in advance, which I dont, you can get it for less, add in baggage, seat selection, meals drinks and I reckon wouldn't be much different. And you dont have to put up with the pilots screwing one of the flight attendants all the way, although admittedly that was on a flight to Singapore. I've flown Air Asia a bit and I reckon they are lax. Hong Kong in the middle of a pandemic is so obviously a different scenario, so I wont comment about that.