Thai Airways International (TG, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) President Sumeth Damronghcaitham has requested other senior executives at the company to take voluntary pay cuts, The Bangkok Post has reported.

"This is part of measures to cut costs so that Thai Airways can restore its competitiveness in the aviation business," Sumeth said.

At the same time, Sumeth underlined that the flag carrier did not plan to slash the salaries of operational staff and affirmed that the proposed cuts would in no way affect service quality.

Thai Airways has a total debt of THB245 billion bahts (USD8 billion) and lost THB11.6 billion bahts (USD377 million) in 2018 alone. The airline has a plan to invest THB156 billion baht (USD5.1 billion) in fleet renewal, which, absent significant restructuring, would put an enormous strain on its already poor financial situation.