Thai Airways International (THAI) executives must shoulder the blame if they fail to move ahead with the rehabilitation plan for the debt-ridden airline by March next year, Transport Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said.
The State Enterprises Policy Commission, known as the "superboard", will assess the rehabilitation performance of seven state enterprises that are losing money, including THAI, by the end of December, Mr Arkhom said.
Yellow cards will be issued to those which fail to comply with the plan, he said.
Organisations that fail to produce tangible results by March next year will get red cards, and their executives will be held responsible, the minister said.
The Transport Ministry has instructed THAI to mobilise short-, middle- and long-term rehabilitation plans, he said. If the plans fail, high-ranking executives must undergo a self-assessment to find out who is too blame.
THAI on Monday submitted to the superboard its "quick win" plan to cut expenses by 3 billion baht in the fourth quarter.
However, the superboard said THAI needs to slash more unnecessary expenses and retain an appropriate number of employees. The national carrier was also instructed to propose its short-term plan to the superboard this month.
Mr Arkhom said the plan includes how to reduce expenses and boost revenue. The policy will focus on marketing and competitive ticket prices.
Efforts must be made to sell 80-90% of cabin seats and the company must play more of a role in handling ticket sales, the minister said. "THAI must have a system in place to check how many tickets for each flight are sold by dealers every day," said Mr Arkhom.
Meanwhile, a THAI source said the airline is expected to register at least 11 billion baht in losses in the third quarter. The results will be announced by the middle of November. Losses are also expected in the final quarter.
The airline is expected to face its heaviest loss this year since it was founded, surpassing the 21.3 billion baht in 2008, according to the source. THAI posted a 15.6-billion-baht loss last year and an 8.2-billion-baht loss in the first half of this year.