The decision by Thai Airways International (THAI) to terminate its Los Angeles service in October has an added benefit to the primary reason of curtailing heavy losses.
THAI jets sit at Suvarnabhumi airport. The national flag carrier recently cancelled several unprofitable routes including Bangkok-Los Angeles.PATTARAPONG CHATPATTARASILL
A downgrade of Thailand's aviation safety standards by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) would not force the airline to stop its Bangkok-Incheon-Los Angeles flights, but the airline's decision will alleviate any direct consequences arising from such an action.
While the flag carrier's decision was not influenced by the possible consequences of such an FAA ruling, it coincidentally curtails risks and damages associated with uncertainty, industry observers said.
A ban on THAI's flights into US airspace could not be completely ruled out if the FAA opted to heighten penalties beyond what were normally spelled out from a downgrade from Category 1, the status Thailand currently holds, to Category 2.
An FAA downgrade would mean carriers registered in Thailand could continue flying to the US but could not add new destinations in that country or change the types of aeroplanes used on routes.
Moreover, US carriers would immediately have to end code-shares with Thailand-based airlines where the latter were the operating carriers.
An FAA team that arrived to scrutinise Thailand's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) for aviation safety standards from July 13-19 was not pleased with its findings.
The DCA was given 65 days to fix the shortcomings, all of which appeared to be staff-related.
Among the flaws identified by the FAA was a shortage of qualified DCA staff to conduct air safety inspections of airlines — a concern that had also been raised earlier by the UN International Civil Aviation Organization.
The FAA auditors told Thai officials some of the DCA's inspection methods were not up to date, while staff shortages hindered the department in carrying out thorough follow-ups on work progress.
It is highly likely the DCA will fail to meet the time frame given by the FAA to address its shortcomings, industry observers said.
But any direct and immediate impact from an FAA downgrade on THAI has now been avoided by the airline's decision to suspend its Los Angeles service.
THAI is the only Thai-registered airline flying to the US — no other airlines based in Thailand have moved to initiate their own US routes.
Restrictions on new service and the use of different aeroplanes and enhanced inspection regimes by other countries in response to an FAA decision are a less direct but potentially more troubling outcome, said Alan Polivnick of Watson Farley and Williams, an international law firm with a commercial transport practice.
The Bangkok-based executive told the Bangkok Post the recent move by Indonesia to ban Thai-registered airlines from increasing their flight frequencies or changing the types of aeroplanes that could fly into the country was one example.