What Happened to Thai Airways: Revamping Its Battered Global Brand

For more than 40 years, Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI), the national carrier of the Kingdom of Thailand, has earned a worldwide reputation for offering high standard products and customer services. The success of THAI is apparent through numerous customer surveys conducted by well-known institutions both within and outside Thailand. For instance, with a unique and charming Thai culture and tradition, coupled with the worldwide reputation of delicious Thai cuisine, THAI’s catering services has developed its service standard to provide high-quality meals on board and become one of the best airline caterers in the world. This has led THAI’s determination to be the pride of the nation to continually achieve customer satisfaction by offering world-class services with touches of Thai charm and the international standards. Nevertheless, since 2014, after several decades of successfully operating as a national airline, THAI is experiencing several crises simultaneously such as declining customer base, rapid growth in operating cost, internal mismanagement, and pandemic resulting in the company suffering from significant losses. Compared to other airlines, THAI obviously has suffered more severe damage since, according to capacity figures, Europe was probably an even bigger drain on the bottom line during the same period of time, but their performance is comparatively better. As of December 31, 2020, THAI had a cumulative loss of 162 billion Baht (5.2 billion USD) along with a total debt of 337 billion Baht (10.8 billion USD). Currently, THAI has already filed business reorganization petition to the Central Bankruptcy Court and is developing their recovery plan. This case illustrates the Thai Airways company profiles, achievement, and crisis throughout its history while the focus is on the management structure of the company as influencing its performance. The case examines how they achieved their astonishing results in the past and how they fell to the brink of bankruptcy. The case leaves the room to argue the company’s potential future actions through the current crisis.