11277m

Weren't the government the major controlling party for all those years when the debts were piling up and THAI did not have sufficient will and/or control to minimise losses?

CPH-Flyer

When has government ever been about accountability for past mistakes?

pogonation

This is a shame but hopefully means they can get a foreign private buyer and government/TIP involvement can stop. If it stays under the control of the Thai Government I suspect we would just see nothing change and TG would be coming full-circle back to where we are today.

With quality management there is no reason why TG shouldn't be able to succeed. BKK is well positioned for connecting flights between many major markets and there is a lot of O&D demand for business & tourism (maybe not the highest yielding). It would be a huge shame to see TG disappear but hopefully it can come back even better than before.

Kacee

I will be surprised if the government does not ultimately fund a bailout. I say this for two reasons:

1. No lender/investor in their right mind would step into this quagmire. Talk about good money after bad.
2. No Thai Airways means no special perks for royals, political cronies, and hiso's.

pogonation

With regards to number 2, these are the people who are most able to afford it.. It's not really an issue giving them some extra perks provided they don't go back to letting them fly up front on Y fares

bpe

Doesn't the 49.9% share holding by the state still mean that they effectively can control the major decisions of the company, unless every single other shareholder decides (dares?) to stick together and go against them when voting on anything?

I guess it comes down the the creditors vs. the shareholders for now, but long term I can't see anything really changing unless the almost-majority shareholder approves of it. Rather convenient for them, actually.

prathetkrungthep

And I hope the government funds a bailout, because I simply cannot see a different scenario where the government lets THAI fail but come up with an appropriate way to compensate and take care of THAI staff. For all the discussion in the Kingdom about how THAI has an unsustainable business model because of the many perks employees get etc, it is probably important to remember that it’s the people in #2 along with THAI executives who disproportionately abuse unwritten perks that actually hurt the company’s bottom line, not the occasional cabin crew family member flying standby to LHR/CDG. In other words, I think it’s also possible that we’re just one viral social media thing away or some human-interest reportage about TG staff for public opinion to turn to demanding the government to fund a bailout.

I like to think I am not overly romantic about my national airline, but going through BKK during the pandemic and seeing all the parked TG planes is a really sad sight. Have not flown TG internationally in a while now, but it was very melancholic back in January talking to the TG staff in the lounge. Yes, other airlines will serve BKK and travelers will likely not miss too many direct flights (except maybe direct BKK-secondary/tertiary regional cities), but we will not know how good we have had it until we actually lose it.

warakorn

Question: Wouldn't it make sense to liquidate TG and build up a new national airline?
The debt of TG is huge! I assume with 50% of that state money (that need to be spend on servicing the debt) you can already establish a new longhaul carrier.
Lease-rates on 777, 787, 359 should be hugely cheap at the moment.

Or -> liquidate Thai Airways and built up Thai Smile to a longhaul carrier;

BinSabai

state, state agencies, state funds (for example pension funds for state employees) or state owned banks hold far more than 50% of the shares as well as far more than 50% of the debts; also a new national airline can not raise from the ashes without a very significant backing by the Thai taxpayers
so the government could actually decide about the fate of TG
However I do not think there is anybody in this government, who could coordinate all those interests and get an overall best solution with a feasible and agreed haircut of the majority of debtors. so the whole story will drag on and on....

exp

If they sell all those TG aircraft, the proceeds would go do the creditors?

CPH-Flyer

The planes are assets under management of the bankruptcy trustees. The value is part of the planning to emerge from bankruptcy, or to distribute to the creditors in case of liquidation.

bpe

Are they still trying to sell their A340-500s and -600s?

There's also zero demand for used A380s, and even the 747s and old 777s won't bring much cash either (as freighter conversions, perhaps).

CPH-Flyer

If those are the ones we talk about, then they are not assets for the process, but liabilities to be eliminated soonest....

SKT-DK

Yes they are indeed - which makes it kind of optimistic (to be polite) that any of what is on sale would bring in much money, if anything at all.

Looking at their ‘sales menu’ on THAI Aircraft Trading, they are still even trying to get rid of the old 734s and AB6s in addition to the A345/6s, 777s, A380s and 744s! And add to that a bunch of used engines (wondering if they’re attempting to sell for parts at the same time?), spare parts and B734, AB6, A330 and B744 simulators while we are at it - looks almost like a fancy garage sale

Kacee

I would imagine virtually all of the aircraft fall on the liability side of the ledger.