THAI ‘waiting for spare parts’ to fix faulty seats, vows to finish it by June

The CEO said that the unserviceable seats were found in four of the airline’s Airbus A350s and four others in its Boeing 777-200ERs. He did not mention the exact number of seats that needed to be repaired.

He said that THAI is well aware of the problem, and it was not complacent on the matter.

“We are working with the manufacturers to expedite the delivery of the required spare parts so that the repairs can be carried out as soon as possible. Many airlines use the same model of aircraft, and they also need the same spare parts for maintenance. We have to wait in the queue,” Chai said.

The CEO said that while waiting for the spare parts, the airline would use the aircraft with malfunctioning seats for flights that were not full so as to avoid using the broken seats. Those seats would not be available for booking, he added.

Chai also said that in case any seat starts to malfunction during a flight, a new seat would be provided to the passenger. If no other good seat was available, the passenger would receive a compensation instead.

“We are in the process of fixing the issue. We expect to get the spare parts and repair all the defective seats within the second quarter, by June,” the CEO said.

The national flag carrier came under fire last month after a businessman, who described himself as a regular customer, complained on social media that his business-class seat on a THAI flight would not recline or convert into a bed.

The passenger rejected the airline's offer of a 5,500-baht compensation, and has threatened to sue its management while planning to file his complaint with relevant authorities.