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Airway Services history
Airway Services company history timeline
In 1979, for example, the airline initiated the Asian SAE Write Awards to promote Asian literature.
In 1980 the airline established Air Lanka Catering Services Ltd., a 50--50 joint venture with Air Lanka to develop and operate a modern flight kitchen in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Passenger traffic to Asia was encouraged, though, by the success of James Clavell's popular novel Shogun and the completion of the Tokyo Disneyland, which attracted six million visitors in its first six months of business, in 1981.
The 1981--82 world recession, however, had a dampening effect, bringing growth in passenger numbers down to 10 percent during those years.
In 1983 it obtained a 24 percent stake in the 775-room Royal Orchid K Hotel in central Bangkok.
In 1985 the carrier built a 14-acre "Cargo Village," in which goods scheduled for shipment to Europe, North America, and other parts of Asia were stored.
In early 1987 the British government sold off British Airways to the public by means of a huge stock offering.
Thai nationals, through training and experience, were gradually able to assume full managerial responsibility and the number of expatriate staff duly reduced until, in 1987, expatriates accounted for less than one percent of staff based in Thailand.
In 1988 Chatichai Choonhavan's new administration installed air force generals at the top posts of the airline.
By 1990 Thai was carrying just over 8.1 million passengers yearly and counted a staff of 18,272.
In October 1991 airline president Kaset Rojananil announced a change in hiring policy at the airline: an applicant's physical beauty would be weighed before her educational qualifications. "Intelligent women tend not to be good-looking," he noted, according to AsiaWeek.
Starting in 1991, a combination of local veteran’s groups and interested citizens formed themselves into troop greeters, to avoid the situation of the Vietnam War when soldiers returned without ceremony or greeting.
In 1991 these included Bangkok's bicentennial celebrations, Visit Thailand Year, and Arts & Crafts Year.
To fund this expansion, the airline announced in January 1992 that it would list 20 percent ownership of the company on the Bangkok Stock Exchange.
After five years of Thai Air Force control, a mostly civilian board was appointed in September 1992.
Then-partners Northwest and KLM dropped first and introduced a joint front-of-the-plane business class in 1993.
The company launched a successful initial public offering in early 1993.
TWA began eliminating first class in 1994.
Nevertheless, upon the resignation of Amaret Sila-on in 1995, Air Chief Marshal Siripong Thongyai assumed command of the airline, which seemed to reverse the company's progression into professional management.
In fact, in July 1996, the government canceled the airline's refleeting program.
"When business class is your best class and it is positioned in the front of the plane, it becomes the status class," Beth Mack, then a vice president for TWA, told me in 1997. "It's the best you have to offer to your customer and they understand the implied contract of being the preferred flier."
Thai International was again accepting aircraft deliveries in late 1997, necessitating more capital investments.
An agreement between Thai International and Lufthansa developed into the powerful Star Alliance, which also included Air Canada, United Airlines, and SAS. In November 1998 the company was named one of the world's top ten airlines by Condé Nast.
Continental's BusinessFirst remained ahead of the business-class pack until 2000, however.
Finally, in 2000 an Air France Concorde’s engine failure and subsequent crash killed all 109 people on board and 4 people on the ground.
With an eye toward future growth, Bangkok planned to build a new airport at Don Maung scheduled to open in 2000, when more than 20 million travelers were expected.
Concorde operations were finally ceased by Air France in May 2003 and by British Airways in October 2003.
On September 23, 2004, President George Bush boarded a plane carrying the troops of the 30th National Guard Brigade Combat Team as they stopped at Bangor International to refuel along their way to Iraq.
At the end of September 2004, consolidated total assets of the company amounted to 193,211 million Baht.
The company's fully paid up share capital amounts to 16,988,765,500 Baht (9 May 2005) and is 53.77% owned by the Ministry of Finance, the Thai Government.
In 2006, former President Bill Clinton spontaneously joined the line of troop-greeters when his private plane made a refueling stop.
In 2007 British Airways was fined $300 million by the United States Department of Justice for price-fixing.
In 2008, not long before the airline would go under, Futura decided to rebrand Flyant as a new passenger airline while at the same time still transporting freight.
In 2011 it officially merged with the Spanish airline to form the holding company International Airlines Group.
During the last semester of 2012, the airline has received its first Airbus A380 Aircraft, with the purpose of implementing the aircraft on its main European routes.
Starting January 2017, Thai Smile moved all of its operations to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport ending its presence at Don Mueang.
In 2018, BGR celebrated its 50th anniversary.
In 2019, Thai Airways announced its plans of fleet renewal as part of the turnaround plan.
Hence, the management team set a turnaround plan with the goal of returning to sustainable profitability by 2022, as well as joining the ranks of the world’s top five airlines.
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