AVIATION
BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA
Orient Thai Airlines and its troubled budget subsidiary One-Two-Go Airlines remain grounded. The Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) yesterday extended the suspension of Orient Thai's operating licence for another 15 days from this Sunday.
One-Two-Go's licence was suspended for a further 30 days, also from Sunday.
DCA deputy director-general Wuthichai Singhamanee said the two privately owned airlines had still not complied with the changes they were ordered to make to their organisational structure, internal auditing and quality controls.
The two airlines have been able to meet the main hurdle, safety standards, which led the DCA to suspend their licences on July 22, for 30 days, later extended for another 30 days.
''I would say that they fulfilled the hard part of the audit, the safety requirements, but need to do more work to complete the other parts,'' Mr Wuthichai said.
The DCA grounded the airlines after discovering safety problems, shortfalls in airline management, and falsification of documents by some pilots who misstated their level of proficiency.
Families of victims involved in the Sept 16, 2007 One-Two-Go airliner crash in Phuket are taking legal action in US courts, claiming billions of baht in compensation from the airline.
Flight OG629, an MD82 jetliner, crashed in strong winds and heavy rain while attempting to land at Phuket international airport, leaving 89 dead and 41 injured.
The extension of the licence suspension will delay Orient Thai's request to resume scheduled flights, initially between Bangkok and Hong Kong, on Sept 25 or 26. It will also affect One-Two-Go's plans to fly again, on Oct 1, on limited domestic trunk routes.
However, Mr Wuthichai said the department was prepared to return their licences before the deadline, if the airline were able to fulfill all the outstanding requirements
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