Group eyes ruling on foreign pilots

Thai flyers seek court injunction on wet lease agreements

- MOLPASORN SHOOWONG

Although Thai airlines are not currently using foreign pilots to fly domestic routes via wet lease contracts, this practice could resume next year as the Administrative Court has yet to rule on a temporary injunction to prevent this action.

In March, the Thai Pilots Association filed a lawsuit against the Labour Ministry with the Administrative Court, seeking a temporary injunction to prohibit foreign pilots from operating domestic routes.

In the previous high season, Vietjet Thailand leased two aircraft from a foreign company under a wet lease agreement, which includes pilot, crew, maintenance and insurance in the same package.

The airline used these jets to operate the Bangkok-Phuket route following a cabinet decision last December to temporarily waive restrictions for foreign pilots via wet lease agreements on domestic routes, as proposed by the Labour Ministry.