Thai AirAsia lays off staff
published : 19 Nov 2021 at 09:27
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Narumon Kasemsuk
Thai AirAsia (TAA) has announced mass layoffs after struggling with the impact of the pandemic, despite the country's reopening on Nov 1.
Tassapon Bijleveld, executive chairman of Asia Aviation (AAV), the largest shareholder of TAA, made the announcement to TAA's employees on Wednesday. He said that the aviation outlook remains unstable, prompting the company to reduce its fleet size next year and use layoffs and extended furloughs.
TAA announced on Monday that its fleet size would be cut from 60 to 54.
Mr Tassapon estimated that the domestic market should fully recover by mid-2022, while international flights might gradually return to 20-30% of 2019 levels.
"It's hurtful to take such a decision, but it's based on reality which we cannot answer as to when the situation will improve. We have to wait until revenue from international routes comes back and that will depend on the entry regulations of Thailand and overseas destinations," said Mr Tassapon.
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Vocabulary
- aviation: the flying of aircraft - การบิน
- estimate (verb): to say what you think an amount or value is or will be, either by using available information or by guessing - คาดคะเน, ประมาณการ
- fleet: a group of vehicles, planes, boats, or trains, especially when they are owned by one organisation or person - กลุ่มรถแท๊กซี่, รถโดยสาร, หรือเครื่องบินที่อยู่ในบริษัทเดียวกัน
- furlough (verb): to tell workers not to come to work for a period of time, usually because there is not enough money to pay them - พักงาน
- gradually: slowly and in small stages or amounts - อย่างทีละน้อย
- hurtful (adj): (of comments) making you feel upset and offended - ซึ่งทำให้น้อยใจ
- lay off: to cause someone to lose their job - ปลดคนงาน
- layoffs: job cuts - การปลดคนงาน
- outlook: an idea about what a situation will be like in the future - อนาคตที่คาดหวังไว้, ทัศนคติ
- recover (verb): to become normal and healthy again - ฟื้นฟูสภาพ, ฟื้นฟูร่างกาย
- regulations: official rules that control the way things are done - ระเบียบ ข้อบังคับ
- shareholder: a person who owns some of the equal parts into which the ownership of a company is divided - ผู้ถือหุ้น
