Pilot protest forces Nok Air to cancel nine flights

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

If I had to fly on Nok Air planes every day, I'd be protesting too!!!

BTW, re the OP article, how does a walkout by 4-5 pilots result in the cancellation of flights to SEVEN different city routes that are named in the article, where all the routes were BKK-upcountry city-BKK routes?

OK... so... the BKK Post article says 10 pilots were involved, which sounds more likely, and that some of the pilots involved had "failed their evaluation" under the EASA evaluation rules. The latter detail is not directly attributed to a source, but appears to be info coming from their CEO.

Edited February 15, 2016 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[Bluespunk]

"The company will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the problem with the protesting pilots, said Mr Pathee as he assured that there would be no abrupt cancellation of flights."

I feel so reassured with this promise from a man who didn't know his pilots were about to strike. Clearly a man with his finger on the pulse of what's going on.

[SOTIRIOS]

.......another 'free-for-all'.....

....on both sides obviously.....

..at least no foreigners to blame....except maybe 'international aviation regulations' ...

[elwood]

Nok Air CEO Pathee Sarasin said that he had not talked with about 4-5 protesting pilots

so, only 4-5 (I didn't know that there are 1/2 pilots ever) can bring down the whole airline? Amazing Thailand!

There were 9 flights cancelled, hardly bringing down the whole airline, so why "Amazing Thailand"?

[F4UCorsair]

My information may be incorrect or slightly out of date but Thailand is one of the few countries where a pilot's licence can be granted without ever having taken off or landed in the dark or in the rain .

There are hundreds of pilots in Thailand who do not have the correct licence to fly outside of Thai air space .

The incident years ago in Koh Samui where the aircraft crashed into the tower was one example of when a pilot landed on a wet runway having never done so before.

You're quite right.....your information is incorrect, grossly so.

[natway09]

We shall see,,,,,, I hope

[khun custard]

Another great 1/2 story

I'll shoot the breeze and put the spot light on Nok Air's CEO Pathee Sarasin - how out of touch is this guy with his key employees ??

Seems he has no need to openly and transparency communicate within the airline's hierarchical structure???..... perhaps he should also do a pilots CRM validation/ training course - (Cockpit Resource Management - look it up and see what can happen !!! )

[Broeno]

Flinstones air.

[johnhw]

My information may be incorrect or slightly out of date but Thailand is one of the few countries where a pilot's licence can be granted without ever having taken off or landed in the dark or in the rain .

There are hundreds of pilots in Thailand who do not have the correct licence to fly outside of Thai air space .

The incident years ago in Koh Samui where the aircraft crashed into the tower was one example of when a pilot landed on a wet runway having never done so before.

Yes, I have had some very disturbing (informal) conversations with airline pilots about various Thai airlines....... - but this isn't a new situation and one wonders why it suddenly is an issue......any new regs would have been seen coming for some time....as said it leaves more questions than answers.....

Too be fair,

I was 1 km from the airport during that incident,

on a motorcycle and bone dry

it was not very wet,

it was not raining,

But it was WINDY AS HELL, with a crosswind the ATR-72 didn't handle well.

It lifted the left wing up and when he corrected he went off angle.

It was not particularly because of rain on the tarmac.

"....Too be fair????...."

What are you? A trouble maker?...or guaranteeing the post will be ignored?

[cumgranosalum]

If these "pilots" are striking because of 'Safety Upgrades To International Standards',

then they are themselves part of the problem and need to be removed from the workforce,

and blackballed from the industry.

And good pilot worth his license should be 100% Pro-Safety without fail.

Any one not, should not be flying passengers commercially.

As no-ne appears to have asked the pilots, I can't see how anyone can come to conclusions...

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

Who gives a chirp? I ride a thai and fly THAI and both are "smooth as silk"

[The Deerhunter]

If these "pilots" are striking because of 'Safety Upgrades To International Standards',

then they are themselves part of the problem and need to be removed from the workforce,

and blackballed from the industry.

And good pilot worth his license should be 100% Pro-Safety without fail.

Any one not, should not be flying passengers commercially.

And not just with passengers. I do not want him flying over my head with or without any payload or for any reason.

[geisha]

There was a travel show on local tv a few weeks back. It was shot in Vientiane I think. The Nok air pilot who spoke could hardly string three words of English together .i will never fly Nok Air.

[Bangkok Barry]

My information may be incorrect or slightly out of date but Thailand is one of the few countries where a pilot's licence can be granted without ever having taken off or landed in the dark or in the rain .

There are hundreds of pilots in Thailand who do not have the correct licence to fly outside of Thai air space .

The incident years ago in Koh Samui where the aircraft crashed into the tower was one example of when a pilot landed on a wet runway having never done so before.

Exactly the same as those who get a driving license then. Very scary.

[Tchooptip]

French pilots possibly?

[jerome2]

Did they try slapping the motive out?

[scorecard]

Quote : Nok Air CEO Pathee Sarasin said that he had not talked with about 4-5 protesting pilots yet about the reason of their protest but he reckoned that it stemmed from their dissatisfaction with the company’s upgrading of the standard of aviation inspection management to be in line with EASA standard.

Now there's a priceless piece of corporate bs ...

1/ "4-5 protesting pilots" ... reminds me of the usual discrepancy, at the end of every demonstration, between the figures given by the police and those claimed by the organizers. And of something I read many years ago in a very funny book by Eric Malpass : 'lie until you're blue in the face, you will always be believed, sooner or later'.

2/ The CEO is twisting things in such a way that pilots are made to look like they're opposed to upgrading safety standards ... What a sick joke ! who will make us believe that when you're the guy flying those birds, you don't want to have the best possible safety protocole ?

One thing for sure, when you're the CEO of any company, you keep your high salary (and your position) by making the shareholders happy. How do you do that ? By paying the lowest possibles salaries, cutting down expenses in every possible way, especially where it doesn't show, and screwing the customer left and right.

I admire these pilots for going on strike, because in this country where pyramidal paternalism is in charge within 99% of the companies, people dare not go on strike. If you're brought up to believe that the boss is the corporate version of your Dad, in a culture where Dad is all-powerful, you don't want to make Daddy unhappy ...

I agree with many of these points.

However I suggest there's another 'scenario' within the mix.

- The attitude 'why can't it be what's good for me'. (Never mind everybody working to standards etc.) Just focus on ME.

[sawadee1947]

Yes - I would say the last person to ask would be the CEO. Wil it be like a normal work stoppage in other countries or will the "friends in high places" take over and sort the matter out to his advantage?

I think you are absolutely wrong. As CEO he should have been informed by department managers and took actions, at least discuss pilot's problems.

[scorecard]

If these "pilots" are striking because of 'Safety Upgrades To International Standards',

then they are themselves part of the problem and need to be removed from the workforce,

and blackballed from the industry.

And good pilot worth his license should be 100% Pro-Safety without fail.

Any one not, should not be flying passengers commercially.

As no-ne appears to have asked the pilots, I can't see how anyone can come to conclusions...

Excellent point, why haven't the media asked the pilots?

Another good example of poor reporting / poor journalism / 5th rate newspapers.

[little mary sunshine]

No comments until Pilots demands are make known.

[webfact]

Nok Air to Compensate Passengers After Strike Leaves Hundreds Stranded
By Sasiwan Mokkhasen
Staff Reporter


Passengers were stuck at Don Mueang Airport on Sunday after pilots of budget airline Nok Air went on strike.

BANGKOK — At least one flight remained canceled Monday after a Nok Air pilot strike yesterday left more than 1,500 passengers stranded.

Angry passengers were left with little recourse after nine flights of budget airline Nok Air were canceled Sunday for which the airline has offered refunds and 600 baht compensation. On Monday morning, the airline issued a statement blaming the strike on pilots who did not pass heightened standards to bring the airline into international compliance.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1455511892


-- Khaosod English 2016-02-15

[scorecard]

If I had to fly on Nok Air planes every day, I'd be protesting too!!!

BTW, re the OP article, how does a walkout by 4-5 pilots result in the cancellation of flights to SEVEN different city routes that are named in the article, where all the routes were BKK-upcountry city-BKK routes?

OK... so... the BKK Post article says 10 pilots were involved, which sounds more likely, and that some of the pilots involved had "failed their evaluation" under the EASA evaluation rules. The latter detail is not directly attributed to a source, but appears to be info coming from their CEO.

Very poor reporting again. The initial media report said 8 or 9 pilots then later their CEO said he hadn't talked to 4 or 5 pilots.

As always, the reporters just quote verbatim with no attempt to put the comment into context.

What happened to the much discussed media reform?

Seems to me the newspaper owners have made no attempt to improve 'the quality' in any way whatever.

[FredNL]

I will never ever fly with a Thai, Russian, South American or African Airliner...

I know that I'm not the only one !!!

[Jim walker]

the company attributed technical problem for causing the cancellation of nine flights, so in other words Nok air lied this is an airline not to be trusted with regards to anything it says form now on. will need to employ a few more pilots sure some mini van driver would like to get passenger's from A to B as quickly as possible regardless of safety, dream job for them.

[elgordo38]

1. >Nok Air CEO Pathee Sarasin said that he had not talked with about 4-5 protesting pilots yet about the reason of their protest

2. >but he reckoned that it stemmed from their dissatisfaction with the companys upgrading of the standard of aviation inspection management to be in line with EASA standard.

3. >Mr Pathee admitted that he was totally unaware of the protest in advance and when he learned about it at about 3 pm

4. >He further said that the protesting pilots chose to stop working on Sunday because they knew that most planes were fully booked.

5. >The company will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the problem with the protesting pilots, said Mr Pathee as he assured that there would be no abrupt cancellation of flights.

6. >Earlier, the company attributed technical problem for causing the cancellation of nine flights

If true, 6 reasons Nok Air will become the laughing stock of the airline business.

Get the PM to get the old article 44 club out and reason with them.

[elgordo38]

1. >Nok Air CEO Pathee Sarasin said that he had not talked with about 4-5 protesting pilots yet about the reason of their protest

2. >but he reckoned that it stemmed from their dissatisfaction with the companys upgrading of the standard of aviation inspection management to be in line with EASA standard.

3. >Mr Pathee admitted that he was totally unaware of the protest in advance and when he learned about it at about 3 pm

4. >He further said that the protesting pilots chose to stop working on Sunday because they knew that most planes were fully booked.

5. >The company will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the problem with the protesting pilots, said Mr Pathee as he assured that there would be no abrupt cancellation of flights.

6. >Earlier, the company attributed technical problem for causing the cancellation of nine flights

If true, 6 reasons Nok Air will become the laughing stock of the airline business.

Get the PM to get the old article 44 club out and reason with them.

[webfact]

Nok Air flights return normal today



BANGKOK: -- Nok Air resumed flights as usual from Don Muang airport this morning as the Transport Ministry schedules a meeting this afternoon to prevent recurrence of the strike that stranded over a thousand of passengers yesterday.

Passengers on Nok Air flights checked in as usual while Thai Airways and its subsidiary Thai Smile Airway offer to help flying passengers in case of the strike happening again.

Deputy Transport Minister Ormsin Chivapruck said the meeting today scheduled at 3 pm to lay out measures that will prevent recurrence of such incident in the future.

He said all airlines are also invited to the meeting in addition to Nok Air.

He said the incident happened after Nok Air wanted to upgrade itself by increasing audit standards for its flight operations department which had nothing to do with assessment of Thai aviation safety by the European Aviation Safety Agency.

Nok Air chief executive officer Patee Sarasin yesterday offered apology for the inconvenience caused to passengers by the strike.

He said the strike was caused by about 4-5 pilots who hold dual positions as executives.

He said they were dissatisfied after they were notified by the company that they would from now hold only the pilot position and no longer deal with the executive job as the airline is going to upgrade itself to international standard.

He said all pilots are summoned to a meeting today and expressed confidence to solve the problem.

Nok Air increased audit standards for the flight operations department, in order to bring them in line with those of the European Aviation Safety Agency.

Yesterday’s pilot strike caused the cancellation of nine Nok Air flights from Don Muang stranding passengers on nine flights.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/content/150994


-- Thai PBS 2016-02-15

[atyclb]

1. >Nok Air CEO Pathee Sarasin said that he had not talked with about 4-5 protesting pilots yet about the reason of their protest

2. >but he reckoned that it stemmed from their dissatisfaction with the company’s upgrading of the standard of aviation inspection management to be in line with EASA standard.

3. >Mr Pathee admitted that he was totally unaware of the protest in advance and when he learned about it at about 3 pm

4. >He further said that the protesting pilots chose to stop working on Sunday because they knew that most planes were fully booked.

5. >The company will hold a meeting on Monday to discuss the problem with the protesting pilots, said Mr Pathee as he assured that there would be no abrupt cancellation of flights.

6. >Earlier, the company attributed technical problem for causing the cancellation of nine flights

If true, 6 reasons Nok Air will become the laughing stock of the airline business.

standard operating procedure = ineptitude reinventing itself

[PaullyW]

I would love to hear what exactly the pilots were complaining about? Not drinking xxx number of hours before flying? Number of hours of crew rest required? Having their personal baggage scanned and screened?

In the Bangkok post, it says many of these pilots were failing the international standards audit by EASA. They just couldn't make the grade, so ran away in shame.

[djlest]

Its a lie - no way are piolets striking because of more checks to aviation, if anything theyd be glad as they are safer, and its nothing to do with a pilot anyway, its ground team and technical checks, so nothing about pilots and safety standards.
If anything at all - it will be pure and simple = THEY WANT MORE MONEY!