THAI maps up 3-year rehab plan

[webfact]

REHAB PLAN
THAI maps up 3-yr rehab plan
SUCHAT SRITAMA
THE NATION



BANGKOK: -- Thai Airways International is prepared to move its Thai Smile Air subsidiary to Don Mueang International Airport and to offer early retirement to 900 staff members as part of a three-year revival plan. The national carrier expects to return to profit by 2017.

Relocating Thai Smile's operation from Suvarnabhumi Airport to Don Mueang is expected to result in more passengers for the subsidiary carrier. THAI will talk with Nok Air about giving some routes to Thai Smile.

The move is also aimed at dealing with the competition from other low-cost carriers, especially AirAsia, which have been stealing a lot of passengers from THAI and Thai Smile.

However, Patee Sarasin, chief executive officer of Nok Air, said relocating Thai Smile Air would damage THAI as it could affect the parent airline's connecting flights. He added that it would be difficult to get approval for this plan.

Another cost-cutting measure planned by the national carrier would offer early retirement to 900 staff members, especially those who are in inactive positions or are undergoing medical treatment.

The airline held a special meeting yesterday to seek additional cost-cutting measures as well as business-recovery plans. It will submit the rehabilitation plan to the Finance Ministry on Monday to be scrutinised by the military's ruling National Council for Peace and Order afterwards.

"By the first quarter of 2015, the airline expects to reduce operating costs by Bt4 billion. In the meantime, the company hopes to increase revenue by between Bt3.5 billion and Bt4 billion," said Air Chief Marshal Siwakiat Jayema, acting president of THAI.

The airline reported a loss of Bt12 billion in 2013 and continued in the red in the first quarter of this year.He added that the airline was considering reducing flight frequencies on routes with low load factors to save money.

Moreover, the company hopes to boost revenue with a new "Beyond Thailand" campaign, which offers special deals for visitors to Thailand flying on to Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore or Australia.

The airline will also enhance its on-board services, starting with first class, as part of its aim to become a "super premium" carrier. It will also refurbish its lounge at Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Furthermore, the airline has established a "war room" unit to monitor daily situations and customers' movements. THAI passengers will also join 10-per-cent discounts when purchasing products at King Power Duty Free shops.

According to Siwakiat, THAI's board of directors also approved establishing a special team to oversee the rehabilitation plan and business strategies.

Five executives were transferred to run the plan. They are Teerapol Chotichanapibal, executive vice president commercial; Pandit Chanapai, executive vice president for the business unit; Chokchai Panyayong, senior executive vice president for corporate strategy and sustainable development; Danuj Bunnag, senior vice president for corporate ancillary revenue; and Niruj Maneepan, senior vice president for human resources and compliance.

Siwakiat said the airline hoped to see better results by the third quarter of next year. However, results would remain in the red this year and next.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/THAI-maps-up-3-yr-rehab-plan-30239398.html


-- The Nation 2014-07-25

[terryp]

relocating thai smile will In my opinion kill it ...direct competing with its sister Nok Air, bad move, good to see in great thai style they are appointing a committee to over see the rehabilitation ...got to make jobs for the elites children

Edited July 24, 2014 by terryp

[tartempion]

Moving Thai Smile to Don Meuang, good: then I will only use Bangkok Airways to fly to/from Udon Thani connecting internationally, idiots!

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[NongKhaiKid]

Will the reduction in operating costs include slashing all the freebie flight ?

[Payboy]

THAI will talk with Nok Air about giving some routes to Thai Smile.

Sounds like another route opportunity for Air Asia.

[chainarong]

Business need to revamp from time to time , Thai Int, is no exception , Qantas is slash and burning at this moment and there is even talk of a separate domestic and International org , if you sit around too long doing sfa, you turn into a dinosaur, Thai is Thailand's national carrier and therefore like all carriers needs to have a lean mean machine , whether Thai achieves this , doubtful, after all it is Thailand.

[smutcakes]

Hey lads how can we make this company break even? Umm lets increase revenue by 3.5 bn! Great idea. Any ideas how? (silence)

[Bender]

Hey lads how can we make this company break even? Umm lets increase revenue by 3.5 bn! Great idea. Any ideas how? (silence)

actually quite easy!

First just close all the border. Then every single cambodian or burmese, either legal or illegal, who want to enter the country, have to do it by plane.

ps: i have a lot great idea for this country, contact me if they want to hire me

[taff33]

Is Thai airways really worth the extra money that they charge,I think not.

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

[Ricardo]

"The move is also aimed at dealing with the competition from other low-cost carriers, especially AirAsia, which have been stealing a lot of passengers from THAI and Thai Smile."

Those dastardly people at Air Asia, giving the customers lower-prices, and flying so many routes which THAI failed to operate !

And doing it with smaller more-modern more-economic aircraft, for which Thai Smile was belatedly created, to obtain & operate, as well !

How dare they steal the passengers, which TG have the sole-right to try to rip-off serve, Grrr.

[realenglish1]

In my wildest dreams I could never understand this move. The key is reducing ticket costs It that simple

Air Asia can do it so why cant you .

Increase revenues good idea but how . A war room Hahahahahah common get read

Just reduce ticket costs and they will come its that simple. Most people do not want a fine cup of tea while in flight then want to get from point a to point b

Not for long I guess

P. S "Stealing" means obtaining something from you that was once yours. Those passengers where never going on your airline .You have to earn the right to get them as customers first

Edited July 25, 2014 by realenglish1

[ezzra]

Replace the old and aging cabin staff that are entrenched and secured in their positions,

bring young blood that actually care and worry about not being sacked and thus provides

better service with a real genuine smile.....

[harrry]

If Thai Smile moves to DMK there is no reason to use it as Air Asia etc will be cheaper and overseas connections on full carriers is one of its main streangths. Helps THAI too if they are at Bangkok

[cloudhopper]

"Another cost-cutting measure planned by the national carrier would offer early retirement to 900 staff members, especially those who are in inactive positions or are undergoing medical treatment."

Offering early retirement to inactive positions? This company is clearly FUBARehabilitation.

[chotthee]

Why can't THAI really sells their tickets via the internet, just like others.

They do have a online site now, what only quote super high cost flight. 90% of THAI tickets are still sold via agents. Agency are mostly granted to the relatives of people who have connections.

[skildpadden]

"Another cost-cutting measure planned by the national carrier would offer early retirement to 900 staff members, especially those who are in inactive positions or are undergoing medical treatment."

Why do you keep people in inactive positions? They should have been kicked out long time ago and never been transferred to inactive position in the first place.

[Payboy]

The airline will also enhance its on-board services, starting with first class, as part of its aim to become a "super premium" carrier.

Free loaders gonna be happy.

[Ricardo]

He added that the airline was considering reducing flight frequencies on routes with low load factors to save money.

Or perhaps operating those routes with more-suitably-sized aircraft ?

Moreover, the company hopes to boost revenue with a new "Beyond Thailand" campaign, which offers special deals for visitors to Thailand flying on to Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore or Australia.

Someone should explain to the ACM, that Thai Airways already do this, it's been common-practice in the industry for some decades.

Furthermore, the airline has established a "war room" unit to monitor daily situations and customers' movements.

And again, it's called the Operations-Department, and he will eventually discover it, if ever the ACM stops meetings-bloody-meetings & starts managing-by-walking-about !

[ginjag]

Is it possible that Air Asia could slot into Smiles place and have one flight a day go to Swampy, and retain their other flights as normal.??? Thus filling in the void and connecting passengers for long haul.

With Bangkok Airways being so expensive from Udon to BKK Air Asia would make them drop their prices--good competition breeds good business, if A.Asia cannot Bangkok Airways have complete monopoly from Udon to BKK, they will increase fares as they have on all Samui flights.

[Dublin]

THAI will talk with Nok Air about giving some routes to Thai Smile, Yeh like that’s going to happen sure Thai smile come in and we will split the profits “ NOT

Patee Sarasin, chief executive officer of Nok Air, said relocating Thai Smile Air would damage THAI as it could affect the parent airline's connecting flights,, Thai Air hire this guy he is making sense

especially those who are in inactive positions or are undergoing medical treatment, Seriously inactive positions & medical treatment & how long has this being going on,,, family member maybe ???What about the free flights,,,,

Forget about the business / first class lounge renovation, people don’t fly Bis and first class because of the lounge they do it because they can. your Bis class is way over priced for what you get compared to other airlines.

[Yann55]

quote : 'The move is also aimed at dealing with the competition from other low-cost carriers, especially AirAsia, which have been stealing a lot of passengers from THAI and Thai Smile'.

Did they really use the word 'stealing' ? Is that how Thai Airways understands business ? What a bunch of childish losers.

And is that low-cost Branch really called Thai Smile ? just wondering, because from what I've seen in the past years, Thai yes, smile NO. And not only on the planes, but at check-in and worst of all in the ticket offices where most of the staff are incredibly unpleasant. Could that, plus the outrageous fares on many destinations have something to do with losing customers ?

This 'Thai smile' thing is becoming more and more like a teenager's sex life. All talk, no real action. And the less action, the more talk of course.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Yann55

[OnTheRun]

Here's a novel idea for Thai, bring your aircraft entertainment systems up to the industry standard of 10 years ago. As in seat back monitors on all planes and not just the hit or miss you currently offer and I might consider flying you on a regular basis.

[baboon]

Hey lads how can we make this company break even? Umm lets increase revenue by 3.5 bn! Great idea. Any ideas how? (silence)

Raise the fares and watch the punters come flooding back. Job done!

[JO1973]

quote : 'The move is also aimed at dealing with the competition from other low-cost carriers, especially AirAsia, which have been stealing a lot of passengers from THAI and Thai Smile'.

Did they really use the word 'stealing' ? Is that how Thai Airways understands business ? What a bunch of childish losers.

And is that low-cost Branch really called Thai Smile ? just wondering, because from what I've seen in the past years, Thai yes, smile NO. And not only on the planes, but at check-in and worst of all in the ticket offices where most of the staff are incredibly unpleasant. Could that, plus the outrageous fares on many destinations have something to do with losing customers ?

This 'Thai smile' thing is becoming more and more like a teenager's sex life. All talk, no real action. And the less action, the more talk of course.

Thai Airways is the worst airlines I've ever flown -- period. I had to change my flight once due to an emergency and after calling for hours to the reservations desk in the US with NO ANSWER I finally got hold of someone who said "No problem, you can change it." But they also asked me to call Bangkok to confirm which I tried to but NO ONE answered the phone for 12 hours straight. I couldn't believe it. I got to the airport and they told me "Oh no, you can't change it, our rules won't let you."

I complained, gave them the names of people I spoke with that told me I could, explained the emergency, anything just to get them to understand. No smiles, no "Sorry about the misunderstanding," -- nothing. They just stood there with a disgusted look on their face and said "Do you want another ticket or not?"

I wrote them SEVERAL times complaining about what happened and I never heard a response -- not once. I have lived in numerous countries and have been to dozens around the world and Thai Airways is by far the worst experience I have ever had. Zero customer service and total incompetence. In many ways its advertising resembles the country: lots of smiles in the brochures but once you get there it's a different story.

Everyone should avoid this airline. The sooner they go under the better.

[jacko45k]

I always feel negative when I see the phrase 'establish a special committee', along the lines of 'public enquiry'.

You can almost hear the crony calls of 'me...me...me....'

Edited July 25, 2014 by jacko45k

[Oziex1]

Hey lads how can we make this company break even? Umm lets increase revenue by 3.5 bn! Great idea. Any ideas how? (silence)

No problem TAT figures indicate......

[Deacon Bell]

Moving Thai Smile to Don Meuang, good: then I will only use Bangkok Airways to fly to/from Udon Thani connecting internationally, idiots!

Idiots indeed. How could they not have considered Mr. Tartempion when drafting their proposals.

Edited July 25, 2014 by Deacon Bell

[spermwhale]

I'm quite amazed that THAI can bleed so much money when they charge more than any other airline for flights. You have to wonder where the waste is. It's certainly not among the air crew. I know they've already cut way back on benefits for their air crews (shortened stays abroad to 24 instead of 48 hours thereby cutting their 20,000 baht per diem for Europe trips to 10,000 baht) as my wife is a flight attendant with them. Maybe the junta should do some digging around to see where the money is being siphoned off and to whom.

I like flying (and get a significant discount thanks to the little lady) Thai but they are 50% more expensive than other carriers, yet on Europe routes still fly planes that are really outdated on their cabin amenities as well as space to stow carry ons.

[Sydebolle]

Who wants to bet? The last elected prime minister travelled for a birthday bash to Paris with some little luggage (see picture by The Nation). Who paid for the excess luggage; usually calculated at 1% of the single first class tariff. I am pretty sure that the entire lot of luggage (even if empty suitcases for shopping purposes) went straight into the plane and never saw neither scale nor excess-baggage-payment.

But I could be wrong .....

Edited July 25, 2014 by Sydebolle

[spidermike007]

Better service.

Lower prices.

More courtesy.

Easier access to the premier lounges.

Better food.

Clever marketing.

You do not turn an airline around by saying we are going to cut staff, cut overhead, increase load capacity (with magic only?), relocated to another airport, and create yet another committee, to drain funds, and do little. Creativity is required. I suggest bringing in a foreign CEO, who speaks fluent Thai, to turn around this moribund behemoth.

Edited July 25, 2014 by spidermike007