AOT considers freeze on employee bonuses as passenger numbers halved

[webfact]

AOT considers freeze on employee bonuses as passenger numbers halved

By The Nation

 

 

Airports of Thailand (AOT) may not pay bonuses to employees during the Covid-19 outbreak, which has taken a severe toll on the company’s performance.

 

AOT forecasts that about 70 million passengers will pass through Thailand’s six main airports this year, down more than 50 per cent from 2019’s figure of 142 million people.

 

AOT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said that Covid-19 outbreak had hit performance at the six airports after airlines suspended flights amid travel bans.

 

“The AOT board of directors has instructed the administration department to evaluate the situation and make a financial plan,” he said.

 

“Meanwhile, the board considers that it may not be possible to pay bonuses to employees if the situation is not resolved.”

 

He forecast that the Covid-19 outbreak would continue to affect the aviation industry until 2022, adding that in 2018 and 2019, AOT paid 7.75 months and 7.25 months bonuses to employees, respectively.

 

He explained that the number of passengers at six airports during the first four months this year was 27 million people, down 46.64 per cent from the same period last year, which saw 50 million people.

 

“Of total passengers, the number at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, and Chiang Rai airports was 12 million, 7.6 million, 3.8 million, 2.1 million, 780,000 and 600,000 people, respectively” he explained.

 

“The numbers dropped by 48.05 per cent, 46.13 per cent, 44.39 per cent, 46.88 per cent, 42.79 per cent 41.39 per cent, respectively.”

 

He added that the number of flights in the first four months of this year was 190,000, down 36.64 per cent.

 

“The number of flights at Suvarnabhumi, Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai, and Chiang Rai airports was 81,000, 59,000, 24,000, 17,000, 5,800 and 4,800, respectively. The numbers dropped by 36.55 per cent, 35.38 per cent, 39.54 per cent, 38.53 per cent, 34.07 per cent and 33.47 per cent.”

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/business/30388940

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-06-02

 

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[holy cow cm]

70 million seems a little far fetched.

[Chang_paarp]

Bet the directors still get their "benefits". Their pay should be linked to the actual numbers of people going through the airports (Not the fiction published by TAT).

[Emdog]

A bonus is a payment that an employer makes to employees on top of their salary, either because the employee did well or the company did well.

[steven100]

This is standard practice anywhere .... I have had this happen in Australia where a companies profit diminished somewhat and the financial controller decided to cancel bonuses. 

 

 

 

Edited June 3, 2020 by steven100

[Pedrogaz]

What possible justification is there for paying bonuses to AOT staff? Business has collapsed. What sort of alter reality do these people live in?

[Jcord1]

3 hours ago, Emdog said:

A bonus is a payment that an employer makes to employees on top of their salary, either because the employee did well or the company did well.

Seems like a good job to get a 7 month salary bonus each year.  I hope they can just survive on their salary alone.

[Mr Meeseeks]

3 hours ago, Emdog said:

A bonus is a payment that an employer makes to employees on top of their salary, either because the employee did well or the company did well.

Works a bit differently in a lot of Thai companies. It is expected by employees to get bonuses. Indeed, employees often join companies based on the amounts of bonuses and not necessarily the guaranteed salary. KPIs are often overlooked as it is unpalatable for anyone to lose face and bonuses are handed out blanket style.

 

Once rumours spread of multi-month bonuses being given at certain companies those jobs are coveted and sought after. Three to seven month bonuses, while utterly ridiculous, are not uncommon.

 

I have worked at Thai companies that had elaborate KPI systems with ISO certifications and still gave poorly performing staff full bonuses, despite lateness, absences and disciplinary actions, year after year.

 

While this is poor management, and common in Thailand, often this is the way Thai managers appease their staff, gain popularity/respect and keep their jobs.

[Mr Meeseeks]

18 hours ago, Chang_paarp said:

Bet the directors still get their "benefits". Their pay should be linked to the actual numbers of people going through the airports (Not the fiction published by TAT).

That would be a very poor performance indicator and counter-productive to delivering quality, safety and other desirable goals. 

[kwonitoy]

The operative word here is "considering"

[impulse]

12 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

On 6/2/2020 at 4:46 AM, Chang_paarp said:

Bet the directors still get their "benefits". Their pay should be linked to the actual numbers of people going through the airports (Not the fiction published by TAT).

That would be a very poor performance indicator and counter-productive to delivering quality, safety and other desirable goals. 

 

Not necessarily.  I could easily be a mutiplying factor on top of the other KPI's.