P C Air Licence May Be Revoked If Defects Found: Thai Transport Ministry

[webfact]

PC Air licence may be revoked if defects found: Transport Ministry

BANGKOK, Oct 22 – The licence of private low-cost airline PC Air may be revoked if an in-depth investigation into the case of hundreds of Thai tourists stranded at South Korea’s Incheon airport, determines it was the fault of the airline, according to Transport Ministry.

After some affected passengers filed complaints to the police regarding the airline leaving them stranded at Incheon Airport last week, the Transport Ministry, which regulates the Civil Aviation Department, the agency responsible for issuing licences to airlines, ordered an in-depth probe into the case, said Deputy Transport Minister Chatchart Sittipan.

Mr Chatchart said if the investigation indicated that PC Air's was at fault, the department will then consider the matter for further action, including possible revocation of the airline's licence.

PC Air normally offers charter flight services. It was allowed to obtain two licences for aviation in 2010-2015 and for charter services, which is to expire on Oct 31.

For the charter service licence, PC Air has recently notified the authority about a temporary halt for aircraft's maintenance check.

The Civil Aviation Department director-general was assigned to fly to South Korea to investigate the matter with all parties concerned including Incheon Airport and the agency which the airline claimed was supposed to settle payments on behalf of the airline, including the airport charges in question.

The director-general will return with a report to the Transport Ministry and it will be determined if further action will be taken on whether or not the airline’s licence should be revoked.

Some 200 Thai tourists, clients of nine travel agencies, arrived at Incheon Airport to board a Bangkok-bound PC Air flight last week. They were told the aircraft was banned from taking off due to unpaid fuel and airport charges.

Some passengers made their own arrangements to return to Bangkok via a Thai Airways international flight, while PC Air later sent an aircraft to bring the remaining stranded passengers back home. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-10-22

[beano2274]

Surely the Civil Aviation Authorities knew that the Koreans were going to do this, as they would have reported it to the Thai Authorities before taking such drastic measures. So seems that someone was aware of it and did not take it serious enough.

[siampolee]

For the charter service licence, PC Air has recently notified the authority about a temporary halt for aircraft's maintenance check.

Surely that course of action alone is enough to ensure that the operating licence is or in fact should be withdrawn ?

Not a big problem if the bus grinds to a halt, everyone out and all push the bus to get it going again or to a safe place of refuge for all concerned.on the roadside.

You're umpteen thousand metres up in the air one can hardly get out and push.

Edited October 22, 2012 by siampolee

[Markaew]

Must be competition for Thai Airways so they eliminate the competition. A nice introduction of the behavior of Thais to the ASEAN agreement.

[Fozfromoz]

For the charter service licence, PC Air has recently notified the authority about a temporary halt for aircraft's maintenance check.

Surely that course of action alone is enough to ensure that the operating licence is or in fact should be withdrawn ?

Not a big problem if the bus grinds to a halt, everyone out and all push the bus to get it going again or to a safe place of refuge for all concerned.on the roadside.

You're umpteen thousand metres up in the air one can hardly get out and push.

Its a bit unclear with this OP. the aircraft was " held" as they hadn't paid their fuel bill.That will trigger the Thai DCA to check, with the view of funds available to keep the aircraft maintained (if there is a problem with cash for fuel, does this impact the maintenance).

The airline has indicated that it will put its aircraft into maintenance, and of course this affects the operation, as they only have one airframe.

It may be that it's due for a scheduled check.

It will certainly be an issue, likely warranting suspension, or cancellation, of their Air Operator Certificate, should they find that scheduled maintenance is overdue, or they are carrying airworthiness defects that have not been rectified.

[allan michaud]

Well the Thai Airways boss did say he would bring more Thainess to the airline so maybe they did have something to do with it. Watch out for the airborne version of the jet-ski scam.

[asiawatcher]

PC rented the aircraft so if there was any 'maintenance' issue, like Avis Hertz et al, the responsibility for the airline lies with the lessor not the lessee. If the plane could not fly, it can't earn, so it can't pay, and if there was any transparency in this report at all, seems to me standard business practice would be breach of rental contract and subject to compensation from the lessor.

If the Koreans grabbed the plane due to unpaid bills there must be more to that than meets the eye and I still say PC needs to be given a chance, and competition has probably had a lot to do with their problems.

[scotto]

Agree asiawatcher give them a go more airlines flying the more competition

[F4UCorsair]

PC rented the aircraft so if there was any 'maintenance' issue, like Avis Hertz et al, the responsibility for the airline lies with the lessor not the lessee. If the plane could not fly, it can't earn, so it can't pay, and if there was any transparency in this report at all, seems to me standard business practice would be breach of rental contract and subject to compensation from the lessor.

If the Koreans grabbed the plane due to unpaid bills there must be more to that than meets the eye and I still say PC needs to be given a chance, and competition has probably had a lot to do with their problems.

Leasing an aircraft is nothing like leasing a car.

In 30+ years in the aviation business, flying for companies that lease their aircraft (and very few own aircraft), I have never seen the lessor responsible for maintenance issues. When a company leases an aircraft, the maintenance history since it was rolled out is available, the monthly lease cost is set taking account of the condition and expected major maintenance costs during the term of the lease (e.g., if a double engine change is required in 200 hours, then the cost would be less), and responsibility for maintenance then vests with the lessee. There may be contracts where the lessor is responsible, but I have never seen or know of one. It's possible that the lessor pays for maintenance arranged for by the lessee, but the lessee then pays the lessor, complex, but that's the way it's done, sometimes.

The most likely reason the aircraft was seized was for non payment of air navigation charges (landing fees), or handling fees if the airport authority is the one providing the services. Fuel companies can take out a lien over an aircraft, but it seldom reaches that, because refusing to supply fuel normally encourages payment, and start up companies like this one often have to lodge security deposits until they've proved themselves reliable payers.

Edited October 28, 2012 by F4UCorsair

[jcw]

What F4CUrsaire said above is spot on.

The customer leasing is responsible for maintenance.