The Thai Airways International board on Tuesday endorsed the list of staff members joining an early-retirement scheme and a plan to sell more planes in a move to fly the airline out of the red.
President Charamporn Jotikasthira said the names of employees taking part in the scheme were approved at the board meeting. He refused to give details until all participants were informed and said only that the target had been achieved.
The airline set aside 5.5 billion baht for the voluntary retirement scheme approved by the board in April. An airline source said it had targeted 2,000 out of 25,000 staff members. The golden handshake was offered to cabin crew aged 45 or more and another package targeted employees in other departments.
The board on Tuesday also agreed to the sales of four each of its Boeing 737 and Airbus A330 jets to two buyers whose names were not revealed. All eight planes have been in service for 20 years.
The revenue from the sales will be recorded in the third-quarter balance sheets, the president said.
The sales will bring the total number of disposed planes to 18, lagging far behind the original target of 42 this year.
Mr Charamporn acknowledged the missed target but said it was revised down to 30 including eight more Boeing 747s to be sold in October.
The fleet will have 101 planes by the end of this year if the total sales of 30 jets go as planned.
The president said selling old aircraft would not generate high profits for the airline but will save maintenance costs.
THAI suffered a net loss of 15.6 billion baht last year and 12 billion in 2013.
Mr Charamporn said in Miami that the airline will go through business turbulence and return to profit in 2017.
THAI shares closed unchanged at 13.10 baht in trade worth 11.12 billion baht on Tuesday.