A recent article on the progress of the business rehabilitation of Thai Airways quotes John Frangos, partner and deputy director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution department, on various aspects of the developing case. The article, titled “Lessors strike deals with Thai Airways,” was written by airline industry business information provider Cirium and shared through FlightGlobal, the world’s leading publisher of news, analysis, and other content for the aviation industry.
The article reports that the majority of the aircraft lessors who have exposure to Thai Airways are in the final stages of signing agreements with the beleaguered airline to govern management of their aircraft in the business restructuring process.
In discussing his own experience representing various creditors in the process, John explains that the airline may be adopting a blanket policy of objecting to requests for debt repayment. “It appears to be a clear strategy of the plan preparer to object to many debt-repayment applications as a way to try to reduce the overall debt amount,” he is quoted as saying.
The article also notes that there is still considerable uncertainty surrounding the ongoing business rehabilitation. Part of this is related to the future makeup of the carrier’s reduced fleet, but the most pressing issue is whether Thai Airways will submit its rehabilitation plan by the March 2, 2021, deadline.
If this deadline is not met, one possibility is that the airline would have to file for dissolution. However, John considers that even if they miss the deadline, other workarounds will be explored.
“If they don’t finish and they do legitimately need more time, then at least for me personally I can’t see the whole process unravelling because they can’t submit by the deadline,” he says.
To read the full article, please visit the FlightGlobal website.
