Thailands Airlines deemed unsafe by UN Agency

[Rockheart]

Governments around the world have been warned about the condition of Thailands airlines.

I've only ever flown on Thai Airways and the now defunct PB Air in Thailand.
Even though Thai Airways has some of the best services of airlines i've flown, the condition of many of their planes is terrible and worse than many other companies planes. Air Canada has not offered any flights on Thai Air for a year or more, but I am not sure if it is related to this or the political situation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/28/business/international/airlines-in-thailand-face-bans-over-safety-concerns.html?_r=0

http://skift.com/2015/03/27/u-n-agency-says-thailands-aviation-industry-is-a-significant-safety-concern/

[BAM]

At least you'll die with a smile on your face !

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[Rockheart]

There could be a problem if those are really the flight mechanics.
In Thailand you never know.

[BAM]

This is what you have to worry about... do you think the Thai's will care? Anything to save a buck or two right ?..

http://www.finnegan.com/resources/articles/articlesdetail.aspx?news=532cc266-560e-4756-9b93-2ecff11c6ada

Some of the known Counterfeit aircraft parts are being made in Thailand... not just China.

[Rockheart]

This is what you have to worry about... do you think the Thai's will care? Anything to save a buck or two right ?..

http://www.finnegan.com/resources/articles/articlesdetail.aspx?news=532cc266-560e-4756-9b93-2ecff11c6ada

Some of the known Counterfeit aircraft parts are being made in Thailand... not just China.

Knock off shirts, plane parts everyone loves knock offs.
Hopefully my Ralph Lauren shirt can be used as a floatation device.

It's all good as long as you make it home.....

[BAM]

I guess this is the BJ girl?

Nok-Air-presents-Playboy-Calendar-2014.jpg

[rxpharm]

To get back to the more serious matters of what this means - The Bangkok Post has published an article that Japan, Korea and Singapore have placed restrictions on Thai airlines - with more countries poised to follow soon.

More countries join Japan, Korea in restricting Thai carriers
Published: 30/03/2015 at 08:46 PM
Online news:
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The €œdominoes€ that Transport Minister Prajin Juntong worried would begin falling over a global safety warning about Thailand€™s aviation industry have indeed begun to tumble, with China and South Korea now banning new Thai-registered flights and Singapore imposing strict inspections.

The moves by China and South Korea follow a ban by Japan on new flights and aircraft changes by Thai-registered airlines after the International Civil Aviation Organization expressed " significant safety concerns" about the operational standards of the Department of Civil Aviation.

At least three countries -- Japan, China and Singapore -- have now subjected aircraft operated by Thai airlines to exhaustive inspections at their airports, industry executives with knowledge of the matter told the Bangkok Post on Monday.

ACM Prajin earlier today worried aloud that, after Japan, other countries would begin to impose flight bans, likening them to "dominoes."

"Dominoes start to fall and we must think what to do to delay the interval between dominoes to cushion the impact," ACM Prajin said.

Sources said it is likely more countries will take similar or more-serious action against Thai airlines.
The government's plan: 'Special measures' eyed to pre-empt foreign airline bans

"It's not beyond imagination to think that the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and EU (European Union) will soon come out with some action, including a disastrous blacklisting," a veteran airline executive said on condition of anonymity.

Thai carriers could face a similar fate to that of Indonesia in 2007 when the European Union barred all 51 Indonesian airlines from landing on its runways, citing lax safety standards. The US and EU also banned Philippine carriers from 2010 to 2013.

If blacklisting actually took place, the US and EU carriers would also have to immediately end code shares with Thai carriers.

ICAO, a UN agency, informed governments around the world about its designation of Thailand as a "significant safety concern" on March 20.

ICAO's designation came after it determined that the "corrective action plan" submitted by the Department of Civil Aviation on March 2 to address the issues raised by ICAO were "needing revision', ACM Prajin said this weekend.

The designation is seen as a possible prelude to ICAO's downgrading of the kingdom from the so-called Category 1 to Category 2 as result of its January audit, which reportedly showed that the DCA was able to meet only 21 out of 100 ICAO requisites.

The audit covered a broad range of areas relevant to aviation safety and airline operations, but was intended to assess the performance and expertise of the civil aviation authority and not of individual airlines. The last similar audit was in 2005.

Some of the key areas considered lacking are personnel licensing and training, airworthiness assessment and certification, accident investigation and airline operations oversight and licensing.

DCA was given a 90-day grace period, which has yet to expire, to comply with the ICAO's standards.

Executives of affected Thai airlines on Monday expressed disappointment over the failure of the Thai team, led by DCA director-general Somchai Piputvat, to secure leniency from Japan Civil Aviation Bureau officials. Mr Somchai met the Japanese officials in Tokyo on Friday.

Top executives of NokScoot, Thai AirAsia X, Nok Air and Thai AirAsia on Monday resolved to tackle restrictions by Japan and South Korea by themselves.

Patee Sarasin, Nok Air chief executive and director of NokScoot, described the remedial action taken by Thai authorities so far as "too late and too slow".

"We cannot afford to wait and we have to do something feasible and fast," he told the Bangkok Post.

The carriers, possibly include Thai Airways International, are due to meet on Tuesday to formulate a strategic plan to solve the problems that prevent them from launching both new charter and scheduled flights to Japan and South Korea.

As far as NokScoot, a joint venture between Thai budget airline Nok Air and Singapore's Scoot long-haul, low-cost carrier, their executives will be flying shortly to Tokyo and Seoul to seek relaxation of the restrictions.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore has just issued an official notification that it will be performing inspections of Thai aircraft operating into Singapore starting on Apr 1.

CAAS gave a long list of inspections, not only the exterior and interior condition of the aircraft. It will check all certificates, crew licences and technical log books.

This could mean higher airfares as Thai carriers cannot expand their routes/schedules - and code share agreements could be suspended - a huge problem for Thai Airways, since they are in Star Alliance.

[BAM]

I can't believe this TV station didn't catch on to this and who's the little punk at the NTSB ?

https://youtu.be/FmFA7jDnk_w

[Rockheart]

To get back to the more serious matters of what this means - The Bangkok Post has published an article that Japan, Korea and Singapore have placed restrictions on Thai airlines - with more countries poised to follow soon.



This could mean higher airfares as Thai carriers cannot expand their routes/schedules - and code share agreements could be suspended - a huge problem for Thai Airways, since they are in Star Alliance.

As I say, Air Canada has not shown a Thai airways connection or code share to Bangkok for over a year. They seem to have replaced it with Cathay pacific, which isn't even Star Alliance. Not sure what is with that.

[Rockheart]

I can't believe this TV station didn't catch on to this and who's the little punk at the NTSB ?

I think that punk may be from Philidelphia born and raised.
He spent alot of his days on the playground.
When a couple of guys that were up to no good started making trouble in his neighborhood.
His Mother got worried and sent him to live with his Aunt and Uncle in Bel Air.

[BAM]

I think that punk may be from Philidelphia born and raised.
He spent alot of his days on the playground.
When a couple of guys that were up to no good started making trouble in his neighborhood.
His Mother got worried and sent him to live with his Aunt and Uncle in Bel Air.

The Prince of Fresh Air

[Rockheart]

The Prince of Fresh Air

Exactly

https://youtu.be/79M185ar0OI

https://youtu.be/T3CQiB_El1M

[BAM]

This ones classic... ROTFLMAO

[rxpharm]

More developments on this story - Thailand has been able to negotiate an extension on the deadline, while they busy trying to fix things. As reported in today's Bangkok Post.

Govt sets June goal for plane safety rules
Published: 9/04/2015 at 06:00 AM
Newspaper section: News
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Thailand is expected to address flaws in aviation safety to comply with the standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) by June, said a senior transport official.

Transport deputy permanent secretary Woradej Harnprasert said state agencies are working towards improving flight safety, after a committee met to draft an action plan that addresses ''significant safety concerns" raised by the ICAO.

Mr Woradej said he is confident the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) will be able to meet international standards for aviation safety, after the problem was neglected under successive administrations.

A recent audit of a wide range of aviation safety issues and airline operations revealed the main issues which hamper safety are air operator certification, issuing of operation specifications and hazardous goods transportation certification, according to the ICAO.

The DCA expects to solve the problems concerning certification for hazardous goods by next month, with a new agency to be set up to inspect hazardous goods, according to Mr Woradej.

A book of rules has been produced to train inspectors, and is now awaiting expert approval, he said.

A second book of rules on aviation inspections and licensing is currently being drafted and will likely be ready for submission to the Civil Aviation Board next month.

According to the deputy permanent secretary, the DCA plans to hold training for personnel responsible for inspections and granting licenses.

The number of inspectors will more than quadruple €” from the current nine to 40 €” and they will complete inspections of 28 Thai-registered airlines to allow them to operate international flights in the next two months. "If we follow this plan, I am confident the problem will be solved by June. Everyone is cooperating," Mr Woradej said.

A new bill on aviation is also being written based on aviation laws in Japan and South Korea. The draft legislation will be submitted to Transport Minister Prajin Juntong later this month before being tabled for a public hearing and sent to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) for approval.

The DCA will also be restructured to become a separate aviation service, and not a regulator, under the Air Transport Promotion Department, which will play a supervisory role.

A separate agency will be set up to issue licences and oversee safety, while a third will perform search and rescue operations and air accident investigation under the Transport Ministry.

The NCPO chief can push for swift passage of the bill and the restructuring plan by invoking his powers under Section 44 of the interim charter, said Mr Woradej.



About the author
columnist Writer: Amornrat Mahitthirook
Position: Reporter

It will be interesting to see if these changes are effective and then approved by the international agency.

[rxpharm]

The follow up to this isn't looking good. Thai aviation authorities are still deemed deficient and have 4 months left to improve their performance. There will probably be sanctions without significant improvement. This was from today's The Nation.

ICAO gives Thailand |4 more months to sort out safety standards as red flag stands




ACHARA DEBOONME
SUCHAT SRITAMA

The Nation

June 19, 2015 1:00 am



The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) yesterday continued to red-flag Thailand over safety standards and gave the country another four months to tackle this issue.

Transport Minister ACM Prajin Juntong admitted the country had not passed the ICAO safety standards yet, but vowed to continue the hard work to get the red flag removed as soon as possible.

Thai Airways International, meanwhile, issued a statement reassuring its customers worldwide that the airline had consistently adhered to the highest international safety standards and was not affected by the red flag.

In February this year, the ICAO told Thailand it had significant concerns (SSC) regarding aviation safety standards.

Prajin said yesterday the ICAO had told Thai officials in Canada that the Kingdom had until November this year to continue tackling the issue before the next evaluation.

"In my opinion, it looks like we failed this time," said Prajin, adding that aviation authorities in other countries might consider cancelling flights operating from Thailand due to the red flag.

Thai-registered airlines will likely face a loss of goodwill, higher operating costs and increasing competition from foreign carriers. In addition, Thai carriers can expect an increase in costs from higher aircraft lease rates, more stringent maintenance covenants, and surges in insurance premiums.

The industry will likely see increased competition from foreign carriers that may launch new routes to capture under-served passengers travelling to and from Thailand. Thai carriers may also lose personnel to foreign counterparts looking to boost their own manpower.

Of all the sub-segments in the airline industry, charter carriers will lose out the most as their operating licences are issued on a case-by-case basis, while full service airlines and medium-haul low-cost carriers will experience some setbacks to their growth plans from an inability to fly new routes or increase flight frequencies. Domestic low-cost carriers will likely be the least affected.

According to the ICAO website, Thailand had secured 76.19 per cent for aviation legislation while getting only 46.15 per cent for organisation of government agencies to ensure safety standards, which is below the global average.

As for operations, the country got 64.84 per cent, slightly above the global average of 66.24 per cent. Earlier, the ICAO said the significant safety concerns meant that there were questions about the ability of the state to properly oversee airlines under its jurisdiction.

As for other aspects, comprising airworthiness, accident investigation, air navigation services, and aerodromes, Thailand got higher scores than the global average.

Currently, the countries hit with a red flag are Angola, Botswana, Djibouti, Eritrea, Georgia, Haiti, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Malawi, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Uruguay.

Meanwhile, Thai Airways International president Charamporn Jotikasthira said: "A significant safety concern [as cited by the ICAO] does not necessarily indicate a particular safety deficiency in the air-navigation service providers, airlines [air operators], aircraft or aerodromes but, rather, indicates that the state is not providing sufficient safety oversight to ensure the effective implementation of applicable ICAO standards."