Professionalism is being eroded by political hatred

More recent though is evidence that it’s affecting the way we perform in our jobs and live up to our professional codes of conduct.

About four years ago, a Thai flight attendant working for Cathay Pacific posted a message on Facebook to say that she felt uncomfortable at having to serve a daughter of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra. She went further, adding she had wanted to scald Thaksin’s daughter with the coffee. She also posted the passenger’s flight information.

The airline quickly distanced itself by announcing the flight attendant was no longer an employee and issuing a statement saying it “regrets this unfortunate incident and wishes to assure all our customers that their privacy and a strict adherence to all privacy regulations is extremely important to us.”

However, it seems no lessons were learned. 

Recently, a co-pilot of Nok Air used the Line chat application to post a photo of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra at Phrae’s airport, captioned with the message “victim on board”. Another member of the chat group, who reportedly works for Thai Air Asia, joked “Try CFIT”, an aviation term that stands for “controlled flight into terrain” – a deliberate crash.

The two airlines were quick to apologise, prompted no doubt by the political sensitivity of the matter. However, more significant than hurt feelings here are the ramifications for standards of professionalism and air safety.

Nok Air chief executive Patee Sarasin issued a written apology and personally called Yingluck to say sorry. Thai Air Asia CEO Tassapon Bijleveld said the trainee pilot involved in the controversy had been ordered to retake an attitude test.

Of course, the pilots were plainly expressing personal political antipathy with their comments – no one is suggesting they was any intent to crash a plane.

But consider an equivalent situation in which an airline passenger jokes with crew members about a bomb on board. Such cases usually end up with police getting involved and a ban or even legal action applied against the wrongdoer.

Yet it appears those same standards are not being applied to pilots in an industry where professionalism and safety is of paramount importance. 

All industries – not just aviation – have a duty to dictate and maintain basic standards of service for all their users, whatever their politics, creed or beliefs.

People are certainly entitled to their personal political leanings, but that preference must not be allowed to interfere in their work and the collective performance of the business they work for.

That fundamental rule of professionalism applies whether they are a flight attendant, a pilot, a journalist, a doctor, a police or military officer, a bureaucrat or a court judge. If we allow the political conflict to infect our everyday working lives, Thai society will deteriorate even further.