Thai Airways lays off hundreds of pilots

Thursday, 08 Feb, 2021 0

Thai Airways restructuring plan will lead to hundreds of job losses and a further reduction of its fleet size.

Hundreds of pilots will be laid off under its debt rehabilitation and it will ground Airbus A330-300, A380, and Boeing 747 jets.

The airline says 395 pilots will be laid off and it doesn’t plan on hiring any more for the next year.

That will take its pilot count down to less than 1,000.

As part of the rehabilitation, the airline is negotiating with lessors and suppliers to reduce payments.

In late 2020 the airline said it was auctioning off 34 used aircraft.

It also leased out some office space to bring in extra revenue.

Thai was recently granted a second and final extension to submit the complete restructuring plan which is now due to be presented to the Central Bankruptcy Court in Bangkok on 3 March.

It needs 50% of creditors’ approval before the Bankruptcy Court can ratify the final plan.

The airline which has been plagued by corruption over many years which has added to its debt pile, reportedly owes at least THB233 billion.

Written by Ray Montgomery, Asia Editor

TravelMole Editorial Team

Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.

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