Thailand examines airline finances due to safety concerns

[Dubnologist]

 

Thailand's civil aviation authority ordered all Thai-registered airlines on Tuesday to submit reports on their financial positions by March 31 to avoid the risk of having their operating licenses revoked.

 

The move is part of the military government's attempt to improve the country's aviation standards after the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration downgraded Thailand's safety ratings in December.

 

The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) examined the financial status of Thai airlines late last year and found four small airlines had debt levels that could affect safety standards, Chula Sukmanop, the head of CAAT told reporters.

 

The four privately-owned airlines were City Airways, Asian Air, Kan Airlines and Jet Asia Airways, Chula said, adding CAAT had ordered City Airways to temporarily suspend its flights from Feb. 19.

 

Officials at the four airlines were not immediately available for comment.

 

CAAT is also investigating pilots at budget carrier Nok Airlines after flight cancellations earlier this month due to shortage of pilots, Chula said.

 

Nok Air chief executive Patee Sarasin said last week the airline would use charter flights to serve passengers and expected to resume operations as normal in early March.

 

The U.N.'s International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAO) downgraded Thailand's rating in June 2015, giving it a red flag for missing a deadline to tackle safety concerns.

[Scumbag]

Aren't their maintenance records, pilot training and utilisation and other such factors more important for safety than financial records??? I guess it is easier to discriminate based on financial records....

[hairball]

Ok,writing this down so I don't forget "no Nok Air for a while".

Got it.

[semi-retired member]

Aren't their maintenance records, pilot training and utilisation and other such factors more important for safety than financial records??? I guess it is easier to discriminate based on financial records....

 

Perhaps it's a matter of whether-or-not they can afford to continue to maintain their planes properly ?  Or can they afford to pay for replacement-charters, or to put their passengers onto other airlines, when one plane goes-technical on them ?

 

Small charter-airlines with only one-or-two elderly planes ought anyway to be under heightened monitoring, but are they ?