THAI pipe dreams

Re: “THAI Airways seeks to raise B50bn”, (BP, March 3).

The four strategies floated to rescue Thai Airways look like Laputan conceit. The real issue is that as a full-service carrier, THAI can’t compete in the current market. The uncertainties of the Covid era are forcing all airlines to reexamine their priorities. All of them are locked into the “survival of thinnest” mode.

Maybe THAI was the customer’s choice in the last century before the budget airlines burst into the skies. Hence the first strategy listed in the rescue plan to make THAI become first choice again is nothing but a pipe dream. In the last few years there have been scores of dumbo pronunciations for making Thailand an aviation hub, a higher education hub, an innovation hub, a distribution hub, and so on. When it comes to state enterprises, we can safely say that stakeholders just can’t keep pouring money down a hole and never recoup any of it.

A brand can’t thrive unless it is a family business. Airlines are a competitive business. Let us be real. We are living in an age where the Covid pandemic is leading to the extinction of many businesses related to travel. Like so many others, THAI is on the verge of extinction. KULDEEP NAGI