
As THAI's new management team is struggling to get the ailing flag carrier back in the black by 2022, the public looks on with anxiety. Will there be a miracle?
I am quite optimistic. The new team may be able to rescue our THAI the same way as Kazuo Inamori, CEO of Japan Airlines, managed to rescue JAL -- which was faced with a financial crisis -- in a short time. JAL's US$20.5 billion debt problem was far more serious than our national carrier's. Mr Inamori has just visited Thailand and shared his experience with his counterparts.
THAI reported losses of 12 billion baht in 2013, 15.6 billion baht in 2014 and 13.1 billion baht in 2015. The company turned a marginal net profit of 15.1 million baht in 2016, but its financial situation deteriorated again in 2017 when it posted a net loss of 2.1 billion baht. In the first six months of this year, the company posted a net loss of 381 million baht.