Thai Airways’ turbulence at Suvarnabhumi: Transport minister threatens contract termination

[Chalong circle]

43 minutes ago, Jonathan Swift said:

Flying has nothing to do with ground services. Ground services are such things as baggage handling. Ground. Services. Not air services. Do your homework.

This. Ground services for every airlines. Not only TG...

[spidermike007]

3 hours ago, steven100 said:

yes ,  I won't fly TG ever again ....  now Singapore or Malaysian,  but Singapore is by far one of the best around.

As for Air Asia ... I'm reluctant to ever jump on their jets following their scrupulous ways trying not to refund following Covid cancellations.

A good friend of mine recently flew on Malaysia air and had a nightmare when trying to check in with overweight baggage. He ended up having to pay almost $1,000 for overweight baggage which was more than the cost of his ticket. To me that's pure insanity and absolute gouging. For that reason alone I would never consider Malaysia Air again in this lifetime. 

[nakhonandy]

3 hours ago, superal said:

I am going against the grain because I fly Thai Air from Bangkok -  Heathrow quite often and I have no complaints . Also their flight from Heathrow to Bangkok gives the choice of arriving early morning at 06 00 am which gives me time for other flight connections from Don Mueang . Thai Air food and drinks are generally good . The disembarking at  Suvarnabhumi is not too far to walk to the immigration as opposed to other airlines where the walk is often 10 - 15 minutes . BTW , I only fly economy . More often than not the Thai Air flights are mostly full of passengers , so they cannot be that bad . Also cheaper than Eva who I use to use and IMO are also a decent  airline . I avoid the luggage carousels because I travel light and can be out of the Suvarnibhumi in 30 minutes after landing ( over 70 immigration booth )

I agree, I regularly make the same trip and have no complaints. The arrival and departure times at both airports suits my wife and I, and it's direct.

[CDG931]

7 hours ago, geisha said:

I’ll never forget a passenger who didn’t put his phone off immediately after the announcement, a stewardess turned round in the alley and screamed at him !  A real soi 6 voice . Yes,  passenger was wrong, but the fish wife look wasn’t very becoming.

 

LOL! I can visualize the scene perfectly

 

On a flight between Paris and Bangkok, as we were about to land,
the flight attendants were serving breakfast. Dawn breaking through the window. Pleasant smell of coffee.

An attendant offered a lovely elderly couple seated in front of me, "Omelet or frittata"?
The poor couple didn't know what a frittata was, and asked politely, "what?"

And the attendant went crazy and screamed in a real soi 6 voice, "FRITTTA!!! FRITTATA!!!!"

Wow...
 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 15 by CDG931

[Bobydog]

4 hours ago, steven100 said:

yes ,  I won't fly TG ever again ....  now Singapore or Malaysian,  but Singapore is by far one of the best around.

As for Air Asia ... I'm reluctant to ever jump on their jets following their scrupulous ways trying not to refund following Covid cancellations.

I love Singapore Airlines for their service and support.

[Scott Tracy]

5 hours ago, chiman said:

FAA certification would be a good start.  

You're kidding, right?

[mr_lob]

Those who complained should be identified, dragged in front of a court and tried for defamation.

How dare they criticise this bastion of the aviation World.

[Georgealbert]

8 hours ago, chiman said:

Unfortunately, I don't feel safe flying Thai at the moment.  If they can turn things around, I will be happy to fly them again.  FAA certification would be a good start.  

Thailand is classed category 2 country, under The International Aviation Safety Assessment Program (IASA Program)

 

“Category 2 (Does not meet ICAO standards):

 

The FAA has assessed the country's civil aviation authority and determined that it does not provide safety oversight of its air carrier operators in accordance with the minimum safety oversight standards established by ICAO”

 

https://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/definitions

 

CAAT (Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand) issues Air Operator Certificates (AOC) for Thailand.

https://www.caat.or.th/en/archives/53484

 

[sambum]

 ".........and a revolving door of underqualified staff."

 

Love the terminology!

[scorecard]

12 hours ago, Srikcir said:

Did you know:

https://ir.thaiairways.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20231110-thai-mdna-3q2023-EN.pdf

• THAI recently received the TTG Travel Hall of Fame and Best Inflight Service Awards at the 32nd TTG Travel Awards 2023 Ceremony. The prestigious awards were voted by readers of TTG Travel Trade Publishing’s print and online publications such as TTG Asia, TTG China, TTG India, TTG MICE, TTG associations, TTG-BT MICE China, TTG associations, and TTG Asia Luxury, for THAI’s excellence in travel trade industry. THAI was honored the TTG TravelHall of Fame after winning the Best Southeast Asian Airline Award at the TTG Travel Award for 10 consecutive years.

???

 

Old news, many times before they have won international awards when the flying public know full well there's many other airlines with much better service e.g. Singapore Airlines.

[tjintx]

My historical view of TG versus SQ is the same as what others have expressed.   In the past year, SQ service and food have seemed to decline while TG's has greatly improved.   I plan to shift more to TG.    Also, don't like a policy I recently experienced on SQ where I was told to remove my personal earbuds for the takeoff and subsequent ascent period and for the descent and landing (30 minutes on each) "in case of emergency".   What I don't like about TG is their inability to have gates/jet bridges at their own dang home airport.

[RandolphGB]

23 hours ago, VBF said:

Which is partly why (IMO) Emirates is so successful. Everything this thread says about Thai can be turned 180 degrees when discussing Emirates.

 

Emirates is helped by the low fuel costs in the UAE but  regardless of that, they are still an amazing airline. They have a decent air miles program and website that's easy to use. Thai air miles are a joke, just like Bangkok Air. Spend a million baht and we *might* give you a free bag of nuts. 

[Thingamabob]

On 2/15/2024 at 8:03 AM, Sydebolle said:

Well, tell the minister, that Thai just adjusted their ground services to their lousy inflight performance. It is an absolute disgrace, how these arrogant snobbish air crew behave in their ever-so-important execution of their jobs. I do not really care for smiles and "Hello Mr. " but you can imagine what happens, if these high flyers all of a sudden have to evacuate an aircraft or assist a passenger. The same applies to the food; I agree that in-flight food is not meant to compete with Michelin stars but some food would be so much better if just properly reheated.

Hence, I for one, gave up flying Thai long time ago; they will not feel the impact but I get much better deals with low cost carriers operating at half the price; there at least I know that I do not have to expect anything beyond basic minimum - and that is OK with me. 

I would always recommend EVA if asked. Friendly, efficient service, the complete opposite of Thai.

[scorecard]

On 2/15/2024 at 8:21 AM, RandolphGB said:

Nothing will change until a Westerner with an executive level career in the aviation industry is hired at Thai Air and AOT. Not some room IQ army generals or do-nothing Thais who've paid for promotions. 

About 15 years ago (just a guess) a foreigner was appointed to the board of directors. The man had achieved Thai citizenship many years beforehand, had an impressive work achievement managerial record and could read/write speak Thai language same as a Thai national.

 

First meeting, many Thai members of the board of directors refused to be seated and made it very clear they refused to work with a foreigner and they refused to accept that he had Thai citizenship, had worked in LOS is snr. positions for a couple of decades with impressive results / performance ratings. He was 'let go'.

[herfiehandbag]

On 2/15/2024 at 8:30 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Before the pandemic there were six Emirates flights from Dubai to Thailand, including two A380s. THAI had one. That tells you all you need to know. Last time I flew the route, December 2022, Emirates still had five after the 're-start' of air services.

And the Thai flight was a code share.

 

New Emirates B777 London Gatwick to Dubai.

Tatty old Thai Airbus Dubai to Bangkok.

 

Mind you, I was taking my mother to see her new granddaughter.

 

She was horrified by the almost biblical scenes of wives covered head to toe following behind husbands in Dubai airport.

 

She thought the Thai cabin crew in their traditional "welcome aboard" long silk skirts were gorgeous!

Edited February 19 by herfiehandbag

[Bangkok Barry]

37 minutes ago, herfiehandbag said:

She was horrified by the almost biblical scenes of wives covered head to toe following behind husbands in Dubai airport.

 

I worked in Dubai for two weeks a year for 30 years and once discussed their attire with a colleague who is there full-time, and he says they can actually recognise each other if they meet in a mall. I also wondered how they eat, and saw in a Doha hotel restaurant one briefly lifting her veil, stuffing something into her mouth and quickly lowering her curtain again. A very strange way to live.

 

I must say that the Arab men I have encountered there are polite to an extreme, like the Japanese. One gave up his stool for me in a fitness club bar. Imagine a Thai doing that for a foreigner. On that subject, I'm not a spring chicken and have never once been offered a seat on the BTS or MRT despite decades in Bangkok. I was in Singapore for two days and was offered a seat three times. If I had to rank Singaporeans, Arabs and even educated Indians with Thais for politeness, Thais would come fourth. Too much Me First in Thai culture.

[claffey]

On 2/15/2024 at 9:26 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I was on a flight from Dubai to Bangkok one night when a fight broke out after a passenger objected to another setting the seat in front too far back. The crew vanished from sight and it was down to passengers to deal with the situation. Do these arrogant snobbish crew realise that what they are is waitresses/waiters in the sky. That's all. 

That's where people go wrong. They are there for passengers safety and  not just to serve them. 

[Bangkok Barry]

1 hour ago, claffey said:

On 2/15/2024 at 8:26 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I was on a flight from Dubai to Bangkok one night when a fight broke out after a passenger objected to another setting the seat in front too far back. The crew vanished from sight and it was down to passengers to deal with the situation. Do these arrogant snobbish crew realise that what they are is waitresses/waiters in the sky. That's all. 

That's where people go wrong. They are there for passengers safety and  not just to serve them. 

 

Tell that to the Thai crew who went into hiding.

[richard_smith237]

On 2/15/2024 at 11:53 AM, Jonathan Swift said:

I know a Thai lady who has worked in baggage/ground services for 15 years. About 5 years ago another contractor came in and cut all of their pay by 60%. Her 10 years of service meant nothing. She works successive rotating 12 hour shifts, sometimes 7 days a week. We all know that overworking and abusing employees who are underpaid and sleep deprived is going to create job performance problems. That is one explanation, in my humble opinion. 

 

Ignoring all the other comments who see a photo of a Thai Airways Aircraft and turn this into a Thai Airways bash (not disagreeing with all the comments made though)...   

 

Your comment above [Jonathan Swift] underlines perfect how and why services diminish...  when industries are run purely by accounting teams choosing the lowest bidder they only identify the immediate bottom line and fail to identify the down-stream service that is impacted by the cut backs.

 

When people are underpaid and overworked, I have great sympathy... but I don't have any sympathy for the organisations that allow this to happen... in this case I believe it is AOT (Ground Aviation Services) who have sold their employees short and the consequent 'quiet quitting' is being identified.

[bamnutsak]

PM makes a surprise visit to Suvarnabhumi. This was not an episode of "Undercover Bosses - Thailand".

 

He was not happy.

 

 

Srettha disappointed after unannounced check at Suvarnabhumi Airport

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin made an unannounced check of operations at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Saturday and found the arrival and departure passenger procedures were still disappointing.

Srettha announced on his X account on Saturday night that he had made another surprise inspection at Suvarnabhumi Airport on Saturday evening to follow up on his first unannounced inspection on February 5 in the morning.disappointed after unannounced check at Suvarnabhumi Airport

 

https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/tourism/40035867

 

[arithai12]

I have flown lots of airlines in all continents. Frankly, I do not see how TG is so incredibly worse than others. On the contrary, I could write complaints about all the oh so nice ones that are held so high here. I don't say TG are perfect, but generally speaking they are not in the worst tier. They are expensive though, especially for the routes I am interested in.

Anyway, most posters miss the point here: the issue is the ground services, not whether someone got their Coke in business class or got yelled at for a phone not switched off. btw, try that on LH and see how kind they are.

[scorecard]

7 hours ago, claffey said:

That's where people go wrong. They are there for passengers safety and  not just to serve them. 

I wonder how many have missed / often missed refresher training regarding deployment of the slides and getting all passengers out within international regulations about max. time to get all out?  

[still kicking]

On 2/15/2024 at 1:38 PM, spidermike007 said:

A good friend of mine recently flew on Malaysia air and had a nightmare when trying to check in with overweight baggage. He ended up having to pay almost $1,000 for overweight baggage which was more than the cost of his ticket. To me that's pure insanity and absolute gouging. For that reason alone I would never consider Malaysia Air again in this lifetime. 

Make that two I flew Malaysian Air recently I will never again neither will my wife. I don't have much of a choice flying from Perth to BKK and yes, I paid for excess weight even so it was in line with the ticket. No lift could be found when changing planes (had broken ankle) and hardly any time to catch connecting flight. I used Singapore Airlines before no problems at all, ample time to catch connecting flight. I always used Thai before (till Covid put a stop to it) No matter what your opinion is I never had a bad flight in all my years (less than 7 hours non-stop) and I am glad they are back. 

[richard_smith237]

20 minutes ago, still kicking said:

On 2/15/2024 at 12:38 PM, spidermike007 said:

A good friend of mine recently flew on Malaysia air and had a nightmare when trying to check in with overweight baggage. He ended up having to pay almost $1,000 for overweight baggage which was more than the cost of his ticket. To me that's pure insanity and absolute gouging. For that reason alone I would never consider Malaysia Air again in this lifetime. 

Make that two I flew Malaysian Air recently I will never again neither will my wife. I don't have much of a choice flying from Perth to BKK and yes, I paid for excess weight even so it was in line with the ticket. No lift could be found when changing planes (had broken ankle) and hardly any time to catch connecting flight. I used Singapore Airlines before no problems at all, ample time to catch connecting flight. I always used Thai before (till Covid put a stop to it) No matter what your opinion is I never had a bad flight in all my years (less than 7 hours non-stop) and I am glad they are back. 

 

Make that three....    Mate flew Malaysian and his surfboard arrived snapped. Malaysian took no responsibility until he stalked them on all their FaceBook Social Media posts.....    took a few months but they relented.  I cam imagine that turning into a defamation lawsuit in Thailand. 

 

Flying Thai recently:  Badly injured leg while overseas. Wife contacted Thai call centre overseas... No answer. Contacted their e-mail before travel (3 days) to ask for Airport assistance, no reply, e-mailed again, no reply...   In the end she had to pull the 'I've got a friend working in TG card'....  Who she contacted directly and the wheel-chair assistance was set up.... 

... And the reason it was necessary to book the wheel chair is she was told by another friend that that ground services don't have enough and they get booked out.

- IMO it was very poor form of TG not to reply to the e-mail at all.....  its as if there is a mail account with thousands of e-mails that on one bothers to reply to at all.

[still kicking]

Well, I guess it all depends on the route you are flying. I booked a wheelchair a few times with Thai never had a problem at all. Got picked up at Swampy leaving the plane, wheeled through the fast lane till baggage collection till my wife took over. I have no complains at all.

[richard_smith237]

7 minutes ago, still kicking said:

Well, I guess it all depends on the route you are flying. I booked a wheelchair a few times with Thai never had a problem at all. Got picked up at Swampy leaving the plane, wheeled through the fast lane till baggage collection till my wife took over. I have no complains at all.

 

I guess the lead time required for a response was longer....  Certainly 3 days was not sufficient... I found that pretty appalling (I'd certainly expect a response confirming such a request within 24 hours).

 

It worked out in the end because my Wife's contact within TG sorted it out... and we had a wheel chair on both ends (departure and arrival)...  But I think had we relied on e-mail alone, nothing would have been done.

 

[still kicking]

10 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

 

I guess the lead time required for a response was longer....  Certainly 3 days was not sufficient... I found that pretty appalling (I'd certainly expect a response confirming such a request within 24 hours).

 

It worked out in the end because my Wife's contact within TG sorted it out... and we had a wheel chair on both ends (departure and arrival)...  But I think had we relied on e-mail alone, nothing would have been done.

 

Sorry but I never used e-mail, so I don't know 

[NanLaew]

On 2/15/2024 at 9:26 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I was on a flight from Dubai to Bangkok one night when a fight broke out after a passenger objected to another setting the seat in front too far back. The crew vanished from sight and it was down to passengers to deal with the situation. Do these arrogant snobbish crew realise that what they are is waitresses/waiters in the sky. That's all. 

 

And they're not night cub bouncers either.

 

On 2/15/2024 at 9:29 AM, Bobydog said:

You'd have to wonder who paid who for the load of codswhollop!

 

So says Boby and his dog, who are the sort who refuse to fly Thai 'on principle' and thus have ZERO knowledge of how good they can be.

[Bangkok Barry]

5 hours ago, NanLaew said:

On 2/15/2024 at 8:26 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

 

I was on a flight from Dubai to Bangkok one night when a fight broke out after a passenger objected to another setting the seat in front too far back. The crew vanished from sight and it was down to passengers to deal with the situation. Do these arrogant snobbish crew realise that what they are is waitresses/waiters in the sky. That's all. 

 

And they're not night cub bouncers either.

 

Stupid comment. They aren't firefighters either, but this AirAsia crew didn't run and hide, did they. They responded positively to the situation and dealt with it. They didn't hide and leave it to the passengers to sort out. It's called taking responsibility.

Power Bank Explosion Causes Panic on AirAsia Flight

Shocked cabin crew rushed to the middle row of the Airbus A320 to extinguish the flames, as nervous customers watched on.

[Skipalongcassidy]

On 2/15/2024 at 12:38 PM, spidermike007 said:

A good friend of mine recently flew on Malaysia air and had a nightmare when trying to check in with overweight baggage. He ended up having to pay almost $1,000 for overweight baggage which was more than the cost of his ticket. To me that's pure insanity and absolute gouging. For that reason alone I would never consider Malaysia Air again in this lifetime. 

So your friend cannot read and comprehend what baggage he is allowed or is he special and just thought that he should be able to do as he wants without paying the fare...?