Thai government introduces measures to protect air passengers

BANGKOK, February 16 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Transport has issued measures to protect air passengers, while imposing harsh punishment against airlines which abruptly and irrationally cancel flights without informing passengers in advance. The measures were issued on February 15, one day after a strike by most of pilots of Nok Air, a subsidiary low-cost airline of Thai Airways International (THAI), the national flag carrier, leaving almost 2,000 passengers of domestic flights stranded at Bangkok’s Don Mueang Airport, as they could not fly to nine destinations nationwide. Speaking to journalists after chairing a meeting of representatives of 13 airlines, in which those of Nok Air did not participate, to discuss measures to prevent any similar incident from occurring in the future, Thai Deputy Transport Minister Omsin Chiwaphruek stressed that all carriers are required to draw up contingency plans and appoint a “manager on duty” to make decisions in case of emergency. Omsin insisted all airlines are required to submit emergency and risk management plans to his ministry for consideration within one month. Besides, a computer system of the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand (CAAT) will link with computer systems of all carriers to monitor their services provided to passengers to protect the passengers’ rights. The deputy minister said if there was any flight delay lasting more than three hours or if there was any flight cancellation, the airline must provide sufficient care to its passengers, including an arrangement of food and drinks, plus not less than one night accommodation and compensation of 1,200 baht each. The deputy minister vowed that a criminal lawsuit would also be imposed against airlines’ employees who refused to work on duty and caused any negative effect on flight programmes. The deputy minister elaborated that a maximum fine of 20,000 baht would be imposed on each of the employees and an additional fine of 1,000 baht daily would be slapped on each of them if any of them continued to hold the protest. The deputy minister explained that punishment would be divided into three stages, including a warning to be issued for the first violation, followed by a temporary suspension of the Air Operator Licence (AOL) and a revocation of AOL as the last punishment. The deputy minister stated that Nok Air executives are required to send a letter explaining full reasons for Sunday's abrupt cancellation of its flights to his ministry within three days. (TNA)