Thai Airways submits rehabilitation plan

Thai Airways has submitted a rehabilitation plan in accordance with a Central Bankruptcy Court order after the the receiver’s appointment last September. The airline’s acting president Chansin Treenuchagron says the rehabilitation plans aim to “fully restructure and help the national flag carrier to regain profits”.

In a press release, the company revealed its planned recovery is expected to come from multiple aspects of the airline’s attributes.

“The airline’s planned recovery is expected to come from its strengths from branding, customer loyalty, service-minded employees, a competitive cost base, and Thailand’s unique geographical advantage as the centre of the Asean region.”

Thai Airways will be ready to operate under its new vision… “a private high-quality full-service carrier with a strong Thai brand, connecting Thailand to the world and consistently generating a sustainable profit margin, under the 4 pillars which include being the preferred carrier for travel to and from Thailand tailored to the ability to pay of our core customer segments.”

Thai Airways plans to unbundle the fares offered so that customers can access cheaper basic fares as well as flying only to destinations that are profitable. Such cost competitiveness will require the company to restructure the size of the organisation as well as processes and operating systems. Additional high impact measures Thai has taken include, reducing the number of aircraft types from 12 to 5. The company also plans to invest in digital technology to increase online sales.

Thai Airways has also set up a transformation office, appointing a dedicated chief transformation officer to thoroughly evaluate business opportunities and to execute its transformation plan which has been proven to be highly effective and roust as the method has delivered results in hundreds of similar situations globally, including other Thai companies.

Based on the transformation programme’s projections, it is expected to generate an earnings before interest and tax margin of approximately 10% by 2025.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand