Thai Airways Plays Defense

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Thai Airways Plays Defense

Post by Udon Map » June 10, 2020, 9:54 am

THAI swoops to protect planes from seizure

TG.jpg
A Thai Airways International plane leaves Suvarnabhumi airport. (Bangkok Post file photo)

Thai Airways International (THAI) has petitioned courts in three countries to protects its assets -- including its aircraft operating scheduled flights -- from being seized by its creditors, said government spokeswoman Narumon Pinyosinwat on Tuesday.

The cabinet on Tuesday was informed about the filing of debt-rehabilitation requests in foreign countries by Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, who chairs the government-appointed committee tasked with coordinating a solution to THAI's problems.

Ms Narumon said the airline has so far petitioned the courts in Switzerland, Germany and Japan, before adding that the flag carrier is in the middle of submitting a similar request in the United States, where its creditors are based. The petitions, if approved, will protect THAI against the seizure of its assets -- for example, its aircraft being impounded overseas.

Prior to the grounding of THAI's entire fleet at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the airline flew to all of the countries whose courts it had petitioned -- except the US.

Last month, the Central Bankruptcy Court in Thailand agreed to examine the airline's rehabilitation request. The court is scheduled to decide on Aug 18 whether or not it will admit the case, which would effectively begin the rehab process.

For the process to occur smoothly, talks with creditors will have to start before Aug 17, in order to limit the possibility of THAI's creditors objecting to the plan when it is presented to the court, Ms Narumon said.

She said an objection will delay and complicate the execution of the rehabilitation plan, and said that this is an issue that the airline's legal consultants are working hard to avoid.

The cabinet was told on Tuesday that THAI racked up 12 billion baht in debt last year, bringing up its total outstanding debt to 244 billion baht.

The airline has fixed expenses amounting to between 5-6 billion baht a month. Without a liquidity boost, THAI will only have enough cash to survive until the end of the month.

The rehabilitation plan is being drawn up by five members of the THAI board, which includes its former president, Piyasvasti Amranand, under the supervision of the bankruptcy court. Along with EY Corporate Advisory Services, they will have "the authority and duty in managing the business and assets of the company", the carrier told the Stock Exchange of Thailand at the end of last month.

On a different note, THAI has announced it is relaunching domestic and international flights next month.


Courtesy of The Bangkok Post
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/19 ... om-seizure



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mech_401
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Re: Thai Airways Plays Defense

Post by mech_401 » June 10, 2020, 3:34 pm

i always thought that was a state-subsidized entity and gov't propped it up ( not unlike other
countries do with their brands) quite startled to
hear they have overseas creditors. not a good
year for the airline sector i'm afraid

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mech_401
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Re: Thai Airways Plays Defense

Post by mech_401 » June 11, 2020, 2:10 am

it is/was a state-owned enterprise. also owning
controlling shares in nok and thai smile. a few
years back began talking on investors. now a
bloated corporate structure with many high-ranking do-nothings. and everyone else overpaid

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tamada
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Re: Thai Airways Plays Defense

Post by tamada » June 11, 2020, 10:36 am

I was looking at the numbers, quoted in billions of baht and decided to compare them with Europe's perpetual basket case flag carrier airline, Alitalia. Rough arithmetic indicated the Thai hole is maybe 5 times deeper than the Italian one? They've appointed Piyasvasti Amranand as an independent director. When he served as Chairman, he made many positive changes before 2012 when he was ejected in a surprise coup. Maybe he's the 'chairman in waiting' while they pay off the military deadwood in the boardroom?

"Piyasvasti Amranand took Thai's helm in October 2009 after serving as energy minister. At Thai, he is still regarded as a true reformer, imposing salary cuts for senior executives as part of his drive to reduce costs. He was voted out by the board in 2012 for what may have been political reasons. The board of directors was, after the 2014 Thai coup d'état, packed with military brass. Five civilian members were purged and replaced with five Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) generals, as was the board's chairman. The appointments ended Thai's policy of only appointing technocrats to the board. Three RTAF generals remain on the 2020 board; they have no experience running listed companies or restructuring loss-making airlines. Concomitantly, employees at Thai enjoyed an overprotected status. Salary increases based on length of employment led to senior captains earning more than the CEO."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Airways

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Compan ... ed-carrier

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kopkei
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Re: Thai Airways Plays Defense

Post by kopkei » August 20, 2020, 9:55 am

the only way of reviving thai airways is to privatize management to get rid of (almost)all corruption but surely this will not happen as it will not benefit most people ... ;)

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samster
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Re: Thai Airways Plays Defense

Post by samster » August 20, 2020, 1:50 pm

There were comments somewhere about EMDs issued for cancelled Thai Air flights. I cant immediately find it amongst the Covid threads but, for info, I used one of mine for an internal flight for my partner yesterday. Everything fine and, you even get another EMD for any unused balance

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