Nok Air boss Patee Sarasin has responded to recent criticisms regarding delays and safety issues. He is certain that the airline has what it takes to become a profitable, reliable service in the near future.
The owner of Thailand’s second-largest budget airline has addressed issues and he is confident it will turn its balance sheet around to black again next year.
He feels that comments in social media have been unfair, especially as he believes other companies are more culpable than his. He added that certain issues have been blown out of proportion by the regular media as well as social.
As reported earlier, Nok Air was accused of being among the worst Thai airlines in terms of on-time performance, so much so that Ministry of Transport threatened to suspend its operating licence.
There have been a few recent cases of delays, with the most severe being the flight from Bangkok to Nakhon Phanom which suffered a four-hour delay.
However, most delays were due to bad weather which obviously all airlines are susceptible to and can’t be prevented. As such, Mr Patee feels that it is unfair that Nok Air have been singled out.
The Civil Authority of Thailand stated that no action would be taken against Nok Air for frequent delays as they made up only a small percentage of its total flights.
Mr Patee said that Nok Air was ranked seventh among 40 low-cost carriers in Asia-Pacific for on-time performance in September with an 81% score, quoting figures from the global flight tracker FlightStats.
Mr Patee denied suggestions that the recent allegations were due to deploying old aircraft, poor maintenance and over-use of aircraft.
He went on to say that the majority of its fleet is relatively new with brand new Boeing 737-800’s entering service in the past few years, while the older ones are around eight years old.
Nok Air’s fleet consists of 22 Boeing 737-800s, eight Bombardier Q800 NetGen turboprops and two ATR 72 propellers.
The issue of pilot shortage, caused by the February exodus of pilots after a bitter organisational dispute that led to a mass cancellation of flights, is well and truly over.
The company has more than enough of pilots now, many of whom joined after the incident earlier this year.
Mr Patee was keen to point out that 9 out of 10 passengers gave satisfactory feedback on the service provided.
China will soon join Myanmar and Vietnam as international destinations from Nok Air’s base at Don Muang airport in Bangkok. Further expansion into neighbouring states such as Cambodia and Laos is also likely.
(Information kindly provided by Bangkok Post)