Nok Air has moved to quell passengers' anger after it announced a rash of cancellations, leaving passengers on all 20 of Tuesday's scheduled flights in limbo.
Passengers vented their frustration on social media on Saturday after the budget carrier announced the latest disruption, which affects routes across the country. The airline also faces an investigation into earlier cancellations and the threat of having its licence suspended.
The latest disruptions will affect several thousand passengers, but the airline did not say Sunday exactly how many.
Most passengers on the airline's Facebook page expressed resentment at the late notice of the cancellations, and ongoing problems that have plagued the carrier in recent months.
"I've been cancelled on four flights in the past three months," Krittichai Chujan said. "I wonder how they run this airline."
Passenger Pattarapol Kammoontri said, "I’m afraid to use their service now."
While about half the comments seemed loyal to the carrier, the other half were highly critical of the airline and its handling of both the coming cancellations on Tuesday and those that affected more than 3,000 passengers last week.
"How could you do this?" user Wut Phaisarn asked. "At Don Mueang, it was announced that we would board at Gate 77. Then they cancelled the flight and transferred passengers to AirAsia, which boards at Gate 55. It came in at such short notice and those two gates are far from one another."
Nok Air was quick to respond to passengers' comments, usually answering specific complaints within one or two hours. The airline was also following up on complaints of inconvenience to customers after last Sunday's pilot strike.
"If any passengers have not yet been contacted by the Nok Air team, there is a 24-hour hotline you can call where you can get assistance and further information," the airline said.
The airline had been due to resume normal flights on Tuesday, but was operating under the threat of having its licence suspended if any flights were cancelled.
Nok Air chief executive Patee Sarasin said Tuesday's cancellations were aimed at adjusting the airline’s flight timetable.
“This adjustment is regarded as a normal change to make sure pilots' flight schedules will not be too tight,” Mr Patee said.
Mr Patee said the airline has offered passengers on the cancelled flights three options.
Nok Air has cancelled 20 flights on Tuesday, saying it needs time to re-adjust its schedules. Passengers are not impressed. (Photo by Pattanapong Hirunard)
Those who wish to fly on Tuesday can get seats on other airlines; passengers who want to postpone their flights can rebook at no extra charge; and those who want to cancel their tickets will be refunded in full.
Nok Air is relying on charter flights from other airlines, including Thai Lion Air, Thai Smile Airways and Thai Airways International, to serve its passengers in the wake of last week's cancellations.
The airline said the refunds would take between four and six weeks to complete. Efforts will be made to ensure normal service resumed quickly, Mr Patee said, although he could not say when.
The airline's internal problems began affecting passengers last Sunday when nine flights were abruptly cancelled due to a pilot strike, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded at Don Mueang airport. More flights were cancelled in following days, affecting about 3,000 passengers in total.
Airline sources said Nok Air is struggling to prevent its licence from being suspended, and the decision to cancel Tuesday's flights in advance was a pre-emptive measure to prevent the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand from stepping in.
Sources said the licence might have been suspended if Nok Air had returned to normal services on Tuesday only for flights to be abruptly cancelled.
Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak instructed Transport Ministry to issue a warning over last week's cancellations. Nok Air was also warned that if the incident was repeated, its licence will be suspended. A third offence would lead to its licence being revoked.
Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand chief Chula Sukmanop said the agency had been informed of Tuesday's cancellations.
Mr Chula said Nok Air was within its rights to cancel the flights, but the authority would monitor the airline closely to ensure assisted affected passengers.
Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith has ordered the CAAT to conclude its investigation into Nok Air's explanation for the situation on Tuesday. The agency has a month to complete its investigation into the pilot strike.