Thai Airways joins backlash against Rolls-Royce delays

Thai Airways (THAI) is fed up with Rolls-Royce, joining a growing backlash over delays in jet engine maintenance that’s forcing its fleet into prolonged downtime.

CEO Chai Eamsiri has revealed that the airline’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners are now waiting up to 120 days for engine maintenance, a stark increase from the previous 90-day standard—a time frame he already considered frustrating.

“We send it for a shop visit, and it doesn’t come back. It used to be 90 days. Now it’s longer, toward 120 days.”

THAI’s criticism joins a rising chorus among major airlines as Rolls-Royce struggles to meet soaring maintenance demands for its Trent 1000 engines. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have even had to suspend routes, blaming engine delays that have kept their planes grounded. In a scramble to address the crisis, Rolls-Royce announced it has formed a task force to speed up repairs, drawing on specialists from operations, supply chain, engineering, technology, and planning.

The prolonged downtime is hitting the national carrier particularly hard, with one of its fewer-than-10 Rolls-Royce-powered Dreamliners now grounded entirely without an engine. Chai noted the engines are spending more time in the workshop than in the sky, a situation that’s impacting airlines globally.

While he admits that “it’s not getting worse, but it should be better,” THAI isn’t taking any chances—earlier this year, it ordered 45 new Boeing 787s, opting for General Electric engines instead.

With delays piling up and airlines growing restless, Rolls-Royce faces immense pressure to restore trust in its engines, as well as its reputation among some of the world’s top carriers, reported Bangkok Post.

In related news, THAI staff are up in arms, rallying against what they see as an attempt by the government to seize control of the airline under the guise of a rehabilitation plan amendment.