Reliability Of Thai Airways?

[Bkkbound]

I've used Thai Airways for 15 years booked through west east travel with the occasional reason to gripe but happy enough.

Recently my wife is reporting that on Thai web boards, there are lots of complaints as Thai Airways are cancelling flights and issuing refunds not alternatives.. I find that hard to believe but apparantly two LHR to BKK scheduled flights were cancelled in the past few weeks.

Anyone any the wiser?

JP

[wooloomooloo]

Never had a problem with Thai on LHR-BKK-LHR.

I'm sure there are many airlines that have had reason to cancel scheduled flights on occasion.

[Bkkbound]

http://www.thaiairways.co.uk/news/2013/04/flights-cancellations-in-may-and-june-2013/#.UaT8QUDVDro

Just googled the above link...guess there just is no business, people who booked cheap flights early are having problems re sceduling the flight in the same class and are being hit for £500 to get on a flight due to a higher class econ ticket, surely not right?

[flightcrew1]

http://www.thaiairways.co.uk/news/2013/04/flights-cancellations-in-may-and-june-2013/#.UaT8QUDVDro

Just googled the above link...guess there just is no business, people who booked cheap flights early are having problems re sceduling the flight in the same class and are being hit for £500 to get on a flight due to a higher class econ ticket, surely not right?

They are only being hit with the higher fee if they decide to change the days of the original flights. Instead of leaving on the night flight they are now being changed to the earlier flight that day. Though I could see this being a problem if you already had plans for that day, and want to go the next morning. Then it seems you would be hit with the penalty if booking class not available, which I doubt it will be.

[breadbin]

Bit naughty but what can you do?

[lomatopo]

I guess a bit of detail, flight numbers, dates, etc. would certainly help quantify potential issues? Obviously if BKK-LHR is cancelled, say due to MX (mechanical), then it should be intuitively obvious that the return flight would also be cancelled. So a single cancellation really equals two cancellations.

I would think that TG would attempt to accommodate pax on the next available flight, so am not sure what the OP means about issuing refunds?

Can the OP's wife share any additional details?

I very quickly scanned the last two weeks for LHR BKK and didn't see any cancellations.

Edited to add: I didn't realize 916/917 were dailies, my bad. These don't show in most systems as cancellations so this must have been accommodated as schedule changes?

Still trying to figure out if these are load-based or equipment-based?

Most seem to think these are load-based cancellations.

[lomatopo]

Not related, but TG's fifth and sixth A380s are due in October or November and are scheduled for LHR-BKK.

Thai Airways to Add London A380 Route When Next Jets Arrive

Thai Airways International Pcl said it plans to operate the Airbus SAS A380 superjumbo to London’s Heathrow airport following delivery of its fifth and sixth aircraft later this year.

Thai can’t be more specific about when the A380 will serve Europe’s busiest air hub because delivery dates from Airbus aren’t certain, U.K. and Ireland General Manager Khun Wit Kitchathorn said in an interview yesterday in London.

The A380s will substitute for one of two services provided by Boeing Co. (BA) 747-400s that will return to the London route this month after a year’s gap for refurbishment, he said. The 747’s cargo flexibility makes retention of one service desirable, with the jumbo regularly carrying outsize items such as Porsche and Ferrari sports cars that the Airbus would struggle to handle.

“Frequencies are the most important thing, and from that point of view I’d rather have three 747s serving London,” Kitchathorn said. “But the A380 is also a prestige aircraft so we’d welcome it of course.”

Thai’s next A380s are slated to arrive in October or November, Serena Kelly, its deputy sales manager, said in London at an event to publicize the 747 refurbishment, reiterating that the timings aren’t definite.

More Frequencies

Thai will reintroduce the Boeing jets to London from March 31, returning capacity on the route to almost 750 seats a day from 534 during a year of operations by Airbus A340-600s. Two planes are required to provide a single frequency because of the distance involved. A 747-A380 combination could seat 881 people.

London might even be able to support four daily frequencies if the aircraft deployed including smaller Boeing 777 planes, Kitchathorn said. A service to Manchester is another option.

Two daily flights to London split between an A380 and 747 would match Thai’s service to Frankfurt, the main focus for the carrier’s European transfer traffic via the network of Star Alliance partner Deutsche Lufthansa AG. (LHA) Thai’s first two A380s were deployed to provide the German service.

The Bangkok-based carrier will also operate a daily A380 service to Paris using its third and fourth A380s from the end of this month. The service is being cut from 10 frequencies a week because of the greater number of seats available on the double-decker superjumbo.

[Bkkbound]

I guess a bit of detail, flight numbers, dates, etc. would certainly help quantify potential issues? Obviously if BKK-LHR is cancelled, say due to MX (mechanical), then it should be intuitively obvious that the return flight would also be cancelled. So a single cancellation really equals two cancellations.

I would think that TG would attempt to accommodate pax on the next available flight, so am not sure what the OP means about issuing refunds?

Can the OP's wife share any additional details?

I very quickly scanned the last two weeks for LHR BKK and didn't see any cancellations.

Edited to add: I didn't realize 916/917 were dailies, my bad. These don't show in most systems as cancellations so this must have been accommodated as schedule changes?

Still trying to figure out if these are load-based or equipment-based?

Most seem to think these are load-based cancellations.

Lifted from Thai airways site:

"Flights Cancellations in May and June 2013

Please be advised that Thai Airways are cancelling the following flights in May and June 2013.

Cancellation of both TG917 and TG916 on 15, 20, 22, 27, 29 MAY and 3, 5, 10, 12, 17, 19, 24 JUNE 2013 (days 1 and 3)

For passengers holding tickets issued for travel on the above dates/flights, the following can be applied:-

Rebooking & Date Change:

• Passengers’ booking will be automatically be rebooked on to the earlier departure flight on the same day, flight and tickets do not need to be re-validated or re-issued.

• Should passengers not accept our arrangement, rebooking/date changes are free of charge; rebook onto next available flight prior to 30 June 2013. This must be done in the same booking and booking class code. Inbound dates can also be changed to coincide with original travel periods (duration of stay). For passengers that do wish to rebook, tickets must be re-issued as involuntary and endorsed with the following ‘ Reissue No ADC due to TG flight cancellation’. (Outbound and Inbound flights must be re-issued at same time). Please contact your travel agent or THAI in order to rebook.

• The above regulations shall be applied with the condition that the validity of the ticket is still valid for travel."

[lomatopo]

Low loads discussed in this thread: http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/636542-thai-airways-making-money-on-the-lhr-bkk-flight/

This looks like a total of 28 sector cancellations, so with what may be quite low loads, ~ 100 pax per aircraft, ~ 2,800 affected pax. Given the low loads, they probably got most of these onto the same/next day's departure?

This is a great reminder that one should always, periodically review one's reservations - I recommend once every two weeks, and more frequently as departure approaches - for schedule/equipment changes or cancellations. This allows you to get a jump on making changes before others. And counting on an airline to contact you proactively, unless your are a FF or in P/J, may not be reasonable.

I got stung last year with a Christmas-associated cancellation, in-bound equipment on 25 Dec, I was scheduled out-bound on 26 Dec, but since I was checking early Dec., I moved to a 27 Dec departure, and kept all cleared upgrades.

[maxme]

Never had problems with Thai airline. They are pretty reliable.