Major rehabilitation plans for THAI
Debt-burdened Thai Airways International (THAI) will not need to declare bankruptcy because the government is supporting it, but it must undergo major rehabilitation including some asset sales, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said on Monday.
The national airline would have to cut expenses, increase revenue, drop unprofitable routes, restructure its assets and sell some aircraft.
The airline would also have to make changes to management, personnel and staff benefits, and travel agents who take up ticket quotas would be fined for unsold, returned tickets, Gen Prayut said.
He said that THAI would have to sell some assets, such as the aircraft that are not being used. Sales of these assets would be direct to customer. There would be no middleman, he said.
The state enterprise supervisory committee considered a rehabilitation plan proposed by Thai Airways and the management was allowed to proceed with the proposal, Gen Prayut said.
The national flag carrier would not be allowed to declare bankruptcy to solve its debt problems. The government was supporting it, he said.
The company's financial statements submitted to the Stock Exchange of Thailand showed THAI lost 9.2 billion baht in the first nine months of last year, with total debts of 262.5 billion baht. The state enterprise reported a loss of 12 billion baht in 2013.