The Thai Pilots Association is raising the alarm over liberalising pilot jobs for foreigners flying domestic routes through wet lease arrangements, claiming it risks another red flag from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Last month, the Department of Employment talked with the association, the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, and an airline that asked former premier Srettha Thavisin for this liberalisation, which would give foreign pilots temporary permission to fly domestic routes.
The permission would be given only to foreign pilots linked to ACMI (aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance) leasing, widely known as wet leasing, that includes all four segments from the supplier airline.
Teerawat Angkasakulkiat, president of the Thai Pilots Association, said according to the Labour Ministry, which sets the list of prohibited jobs for non-Thais, foreign pilots are unable to fly domestic flights.
The department discussed this issue with related stakeholders and agreed to liberalise this rule on a temporary basis to mitigate the impact of a supply shortage during the upcoming high season for six months.
However, Mr Teerawat said this permission could harm the Thai aviation industry in several ways.
First, he said as Thailand is not officially committed to Article 83bis of the Chicago Convention, which allows the state of registry to transfer supervisory responsibilities for an aircraft to the state of the operator, granting this type of permission might breach aviation laws and affect the status of the country.
In the worst-case scenario, Thailand could incur a red flag, as happened in 2015 when the country failed ICAO’s safety test, which stopped Thai carriers from expanding to other countries, said Mr Teerawat.
“The authorities might say the amendment is temporary, but what will happen if more airlines follow suit by taking advantage of this change? Then authorities cannot prevent other carriers from conducting the same practices as they could be accused of discrimination,” he said.
In addition, allowing foreign pilots via wet lease contracts would not benefit the country because the cost of such an agreement is relatively high for an airline, said Mr Teerawat.
Such agreements do not guarantee passengers will receive lower prices based on reduced operational costs, he said.
Essential for the association is the lost opportunities for 1,736 Thai pilots who are still unemployed, both graduates and those laid off since the pandemic, said Mr Teerawat.
As each pilot could earn 3.5 million baht per year on average, that is 6 billion baht generated within the country if those unemployed pilots work when the aviation industry fully resumes in a few years, he said.
Mr Teerawat said the association, which has about 700 member pilots, would like the new government to carefully think about this issue when the department submits the agenda to the new cabinet for consideration.
He said the association also wants to address other issues, such as obstacles preventing local pilots from obtaining flying licences.
