5 Thai airlines fail to meet China's safety requirements

[Oziex1]

China, Thailand's new friend?

[ExPratt]

CAAC to inspect Thai airlines MRO records

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has revealed that it will be inspected MRO records and procedures of Thai airlines this week.

NokScoot’s CEO, Piya Yodmani, has stated that the airline is ready for the inspection. However, a blanket ban of Thai carriers in China is a possibility.

DATE: MAY 12, 2015

http://www.aviationnews-online.com/regulatory/caac-to-inspect-thai-airlines-mro-records/?

[BlackJack]

Its hard to get qualified staff and I suspect this has something to do with opening up Thailand to quality overseas expertise.

NOT

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

According to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), the airlines in question are Orient Thai, Nok Scoot, Jet Asia, City Airways and R Airlines. The detected flaws involved flight documents, aircraft maintenance and staff.

Well, that's a real SHOCKER.... Can you imagine, the Chinese aviation regulators failed Orient Thai -- the same airline that Thailand should have dealt with years ago.

I just hope the FAA now proceeds to come into the picture, and reams them all a new one.

That's the only way local carrier aviation in and out of Thailand is going to become safe.

[tx22cb]

Business model for fledgling Thai airlines:

1) Who can we invite to be the Chairman of our airline? Must be someone with the right surname and lots of connections. A general, air commodore, "big family" member, or a cousin of a political party leader.

2) Whose palms do we have to grease so that we can make sure our bid for a Thai airline licence is successful?

3) Lease the cheapest possible aircraft and crew

4) Devise plans to list our airline on the stock exchange and reap in the money.

20) Procedures - do a Google search and copy/paste a makeshift operating manual. No need to print out more than 1 hard copy - nobody will read it anyway.

25) Safety - not bothered. Instead, just impose compulsory prayers and merit-making to the gods to watch over our assets.

NB the above is fictional satire, and any accidental resemblance to actual airlines is entirely coincidental

[quandow]

Well, they ARE prepared, in case of accidents, to paint over the logos of the downed planes. Doesn't that meet international safety standards?

Way to go, Thailand, you are getting outed more and more each day!

[Happy Grumpy]

Probably a question about that the Chinese low-cost carriers want a piece of the lucrative pie, that is charter flights between China and Thailand!!

The checking of 5 airlines and the subsequent downgrading was done in one day!!

The checking of 5 airlines and the subsequent downgrading was done in one day!!

The checking of 5 airlines and the subsequent downgrading was done in one bank transfer!!

[Digitalbanana]

How about Orient Thai, makes R-Airlines seem possible modern?

http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Orient-Thai-Airlines

Orient Thai: Current fleet

HS-UTW 23067 588 Boeing 747-300 started on 16. Oct 2009 = 31.6 Years Old?

Looks like Jet Asia has got them all beat:

http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/Jet-Asia-Airways

HS-JAB 21868 10 Boeing 767-200 started on 25. Aug 2011 HS-BIA = 32.8 Years Old

[F4UCorsair]

Probably a question about that the Chinese low-cost carriers want a piece of the lucrative pie, that is charter flights between China and Thailand!!

The checking of 5 airlines and the subsequent downgrading was done in one day!!

That's all it should take. It's not one person checking all airlines.

To those posters who think an aircraft's age is an issue, it's not. An aircraft that is 30 years old and has flown 100,000+ hours would have had most components replaced several times, hundreds of modifications done, wings taken off for imspections, spars xrayed to check integrity, and a thousand other checks, all multiple times.

[winstonc]

my dillema..cant use the trains..derailment ...cant use the minibus...high chance of death by driver..now im buggered flying...oh well some new trainers are in order now ..the long walk just like forrest gump...

[Asiantravel]

Who are R airlines ? Never heard of them

http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/R-Airlines

The link to their webpage doesn't even work so that doesn't give me a lot of confidence for a start

[mca]

Who are R airlines ? Never heard of them

http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/R-Airlines

Great airline........their freekin planes are 21 years old!!

I'm not saying their fleet's old but the last time I flew with them I was sitting next to the tail gunner...

[forumuser10]

Funny stuff. So China sends an inspection team over, the airlines here

open the books for them, and of course they find irregularities. I guess

China really does have Thailand by the balls. If France said they wanted

to send over an inspection team, Thailand would tell them to piss off...

On a side note, the very concept of China deciding if a public transportation

sector is safe or not, is ludicrous... Money rules all in China, same as here.

As in Russia, and many other Eastern European countries...

[Alwyn]

Wow, when you can't meet China's safety regulations it's time to ditch the aircraft!

Very true! It used to be (this might have changed bu now I guess) that the Chinese bought old Aeroflot planes and when they were too old even for them, sold them back to Aeroflot for "domestic" flights (which included other countries such as Uzbekistan etc. So if the Chinese are whining about it, you're spot on, ditch the aircraft!

[Naroge]

If we take this issue seriously, and if we assume that the Chinese regulations are in line with international regulations and not more severe, then there is only one bottom line:

These airlines are today not safe to fly with.

[mutha289]

Who are R airlines ? Never heard of them

http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/R-Airlines

Great airline........their freekin planes are 21 years old!!

Not unusual. Take United Airlines, they have dozens of airplanes that are more than 20 years old.

I agree, 20 year old aircraft is not that unusual in the industry and as long as they are properly maintained and the crews trained well there should be little to worry about. Having said that improper records and poor maintenance could certainly be a sign of deeper problems and then of course there is the fact that R Airlines operates a Scarebus!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R_Airlines

[Muirton]

I read "somewhere" so I admit that we're talking hearsay that Thai Airways has 80 VPs. Parasites all who suck off maintenance funds. A while back, BKK's aerodrome didn't have enough landing lights for night landings. Gosh, I wonder where the budget line for that item got diverted.

[outsider]

This, from the land of fake eggs, fake milk powder and god knows what other type of crap they are capable of. Laughable, to say the very least.

[xminator]

How about domestic airlines... Would NOK Air pass a strict audit?

[ableguy]

Really it's becoming more and more like its heading for a failed country label, this country could be a jewel among countries only theft is keeping them back, it seems nobody gives a damn about anything only about what goes in their pocket, international rules of course or following them costs money so ignore them.

Fishing the oceans dry nobody gives a damn and the bloody cheek of them Europeans complaining about Thailands rape of the oceans.

Old aircraft who gives a damn, lack of mechanics qualified to work on them, never mind, what do the Chinese know anyway..

The majority of the working class earning slave wages, being kicked off the work force at fifty five years old nobody gives a sh......t.

Still I love it here and my gf, know full well my life is not worth a damn here just keep my head down and take it day by day.

Lots of airlines I will never fly on here I view them the same as mini vans, public buses, state railways taxis and tuk tuks, all best left to the locals to use.

[fvw53]

ChrisY1, on 13 May 2015 - 13:32, said:

Bluespunk" data-cid="9401424" data-time="1431497819" data-date="15 minutes ago said:

The Big Mango" data-cid="9401415" data-time="1431497672" data-date="17 minutes ago said:

Who are R airlines ? Never heard of them

http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/R-Airlines

Great airline........their freekin planes are 21 years old!!

Airplanes can be 21 years old provided the prescribed checks are done on time and that the spare parts which are bought are true originals and not bought on the cheaper but dubious "grey market"

[Halion]

Bloody disgrace and scraping the bottom of the barrel.

[Jonmarleesco]

If they can't meet Chinese standards, there's no hope for them.

[elgordo38]

Who are R airlines ? Never heard of them

http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/R-Airlines

Great airline........their freekin planes are 21 years old!!

I wonder which airlines brought the 23% increase in tourists in the first quarter. I am standing on the balcony and its a good thing I just ducked I saw a tourist fly by and barely miss me. Yeah Gads must get a safety helmet

[rodknock]

The dca,however, insisted the airlines could address the problems before the deadline!

What deadline??? what year is it ????? does any one know the date, if there really is one, or is that the date that the brown bag has to be past by??!! wonder what the donation is to have your airplanes falling out of the sky. well, it goes along with what it costs to run over some one on a bicycle 7500baht. wow, how cheap life is. oh well it is Thailand.

[Thongkorn]

I think it was the outside toilets that did it.

[Stargeezr]

If China is being dishonest and putting pressure on the Thailand Airline industry,

then no high speed Chinese bullet trains through Thailand. Give that contract to Japan

or some one else. Put pressure on China to stop sending Thailand , defective Chinese tourists, who

can barely act like modern humans. Make the Chinese people learn to quit spitting everywhere

and using public bathrooms like they don't know sh*t from Shinola, and maybe to be polite and

not throw their cigarette butts everywhere as well, oh I guess they are not the only ones to do that!.

Just my 2 cents worth of opinion.

[hawker9000]

Who are R airlines ? Never heard of them

http://www.planespotters.net/Airline/R-Airlines

Great airline........their freekin planes are 21 years old!!

Not unusual. Take United Airlines, they have dozens of airplanes that are more than 20 years old.

OT, but the latest model of the USAF's frontline B-52 bomber, the B-52H, has been in service since 1961. That's 54 yrs. They're expected to still be flying through the mid-2040s - over 80 years! They've been through upgrades and all manner of service life refit-type activity of course, but we're still talking the same basic airframes (or BuNos at least ). I can't even imagine how old some of the DC-3s, some of which are still in commercial passenger service, still flying must be. And I seem to remember hearing about a DC-9 flying somewhere in Africa that should be going on about 50 yo now if it's still in service (it was still flying in 2012 - that's all I know for sure).

[NongKhaiKid]

China, Thailand's new friend?

I wonder if this was maybe part of the problem ?

Thailand has been sitting on its hands for years over safety and has been given a final warning by ICAO but LoS may have wrongly bargained for a favourable report from their new best friend.

[ExPratt]

China, Thailand's new friend?

I wonder if this was maybe part of the problem ?

Thailand has been sitting on its hands for years over safety and has been given a final warning by ICAO but LoS may have wrongly bargained for a favourable report from their new best friend.

Very True , The Chinese are apparently going to be flocking to Thailand .They lost quite a few on MH370 so aircraft safety in a big issue there. Of course if the Chinese don't allow many Thai airlines to land then the hoards will just have to use Chinese carriers