Thai Airways International Pcl has made a decision to cut 1,401 jobs this year by way of voluntary retirement and ending flights to Rome and Los Angeles which incurred losses rather than profit as it moves ahead with its restructuring plan, as stated by their president, Sunday.
The national carrier of Thailand targets to minimize operating capacity and costs by 20 percent within a two-year plan, thus calling for reduction in staffing and aircraft sales.
President Charumporn Jotikasthira told Reuters that suspension of flight will decrease Thai Air capability by 5 percent. Thai Airways desires to trim capacity by 15 percent.
He said, "It's normal that we have to cut costs and adjust flights to suit changing situation," and added that the the airline has alloted 5.3 billion baht ($15.86 million) as budget for the voluntary retirement plan.
Jotikasthira also stated that those employees retiring in 2015 are excluded from the number of those leaving. Thai Airways also aimed to cut down on operation costs by 9 million baht for 2015.
From Oct. 25, Thai Airways will end its flight from Bangkok to Rome and to Los Angeles. These routes which was unprofitable to the airline company and incurred losses above 100 million baht every year.
Meanwhile, airline flights on routes which earned profit to Thai Airways will be doubled such as the routes to London and Frankfurt, as per The Financial Express.
Asian Correspondent has learned that as per Reuters, Thai Airways president also revealed that: "Thai Airways will cut the frequency of its flights to Kolkata, India. It will also transfer operations of three routes, Hyderabad in India, Changsha in China and Luang Prabang in Laos, to its Thai Smile mid-range unit."
He also reiterated his vision that by the end of 2015, Thai Airways' operation will result at a break even figure.
Thai Airways retained its 50 routes to other countries. These flights were either income generating or unprofitable to the company.
