Thai Airways International CEO Chai Eamsiri has pledged a quick fix on faulty seats, saying a parts shortage was partly to blame for the problem that had irked some customers.
Mr Chai told reporters on Friday that the national carrier was not sitting by idly in the face of complaints from passengers travelling on its airplanes.
Some defective seats have been mended but others are waiting for parts, which are in high demand from manufacturers as other airlines have found the same problem, he added.
The flag carrier has discovered faulty seats in four Airbus A350 aircraft and another four in its Boeing 777-200ER jets, according to the CEO.
He said one of the measures used to solve the problem was to relegate planes with problematic seats to low-traffic routes and to block out those seats from sale.
“THAI is not the only airline using the seats on the A350. Other airlines also use the same seating type. So every airline wants spare parts at the same time,” he was quoted as saying on the @ThaiPBS X account.
His response was the first public explanation from a THAI executive since April 28, when Treerat Sirinchantaropas, the CEO of New Energy Plus Solutions, posted a Facebook message complaining about his business class seat. As well, he said, the seat of one of his business customers malfunctioned in reclining mode.
A ground staff member had told him about the defect as he was walking to board the aircraft and handed him 5,500 baht in an envelope as compensation in exchange for keeping the issue to himself, he said.
Mr Treerat, a former member of the Pheu Thai and then Thai Sang Thai parties, declined the offer and went public with a pledge to sue the airline and petition the House committee on transport to look into defects of the entire THAI fleet.
THAI uses the A350 aircraft on the Bangkok-Beijing route.
Mr Treerat said he went public with good intentions because he was a loyal THAI customer and wanted to see it improved and restored to its former glory.
His complaint was echoed by some other travellers.
One passenger claimed she learned that her business class seat could not be adjusted on flight TG668 from Bangkok to Guangzhou on April 30. A staff member also handed her an envelope with 5,000 baht in cash in exchange for her silence, according to Mr Treerat’s post on the same day.
The airline deploys the Boeing 777-200 on the Bangkok-Guangzhou route.
THAI on Friday reported a first-quarter consolidated net profit of 2.43 billion baht, an 80.7% drop from 12.5 billion recorded in the same period of last year. Revenue rose 10.7% but expenses rose 22.5% in the period, it said.