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Nok Air President Blames Social Media for LCC’s Poor Image
10th Oct 2016
If there is one airline in Thailand that has been the subject of criticism over the past few months, and especially in the last week or two, it’s Nok Air. But ask Patee Sarasin, the president of the second-biggest Thai carrier and he’ll tell you things are not as bad as they say.
Speaking in an interview for Bangkok Post, Nok Air boss blamed social media on its portrayal of the carrier, saying:
Let’s be fair, we are not as bad as some, especially from social media, have portrayed us to be, judging from relevant yardsticks. We are subject to hate reports and comments in many cases that are trivial but have been blown out of proportion by traditional and social media.
Out of 40 LCCs in Asia-Pacific, Nok Air ranked seventh for on-time performance in September, according to stats from the global flight tracker FlightStats, said Mr Patee and added:
When things like flight delays affect passengers, we follow established industry procedures and comply with regulatory standards including ticket refunding to show our responsibility.
Nok Air Planes are not Old, Poorly Maintained or Over-Utilized, Claims Mr Patee
Most of Nok Air’s fleet consists of relatively new aircraft types, such as Boeing 737-800 and the rest of the fleet are around eight years old, Mr Patee pointed out. At the moment, the carrier’s fleet includes 22 Boeing 737-800s, eight Bombardier Q800 NetGen turboprop jets and two ATR 72 propellers.
When it comes to maintenance, Nok Air’s planes are maintained, repaired and overhauled under strict global standards, by Lufthansa Technik AG, a unit of Lufthansa Group.
Finally, when it comes to the supposed overuse of aircraft, Nok Air president said:
On a daily average, we fly only nine hours for each aircraft, and we can ramp up to 11 hours as per industry practice.
Pilot Shortages no Longer a Problem for Nok Air
As for the pilot and crew shortage, something that Nok Air has been facing since the exodus of pilots in February, Patee claims that is now behind the company.
We have an abundance of pilots now, many of whom joined after the incident earlier this year, to support our growth.
Nok Air president finished the interview, saying:
All in all, we have rebuilt our platform for growth and turning black next year.
In the meantime, the LCC is expanding its international network and has announced it will start a service to China in December. The carrier will start with two destinations, Guangzhou and Kunming, both taking off from Don Muang, and will go from there.
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