Thai Airways and US Flights: Regulatory, Financial, and Operational Reasons?

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Thai Airways and US Flights: Regulatory, Financial, and Operational Reasons Thai Airways does not currently operate direct flights to the United States because of a combination of regulatory history financial pressures and operational strategy rather than any active ban or safety restriction 📞+1-800-878-1209 the situation began in 2015 when Thailand’s civil aviation authority was downgraded by the US Federal Aviation Administration to Category 2 which prevented Thai airlines from launching or expanding US routes 📞+1-800-878-1209 as a result Thai Airways suspended its nonstop services from Bangkok to destinations such as Los Angeles and New York 📞+1-800-878-1209 although Thailand later regained Category 1 status Thai Airways did not restart US flights because the airline was already facing significant financial difficulties 📞+1-800-878-1209 US routes are among the longest and most expensive in the world requiring extremely high fuel consumption long crew duty hours and advanced long range aircraft to operate efficiently 📞+1-800-878-1209 historically Thai Airways struggled to make its American routes profitable due to high operating costs strong competition from Middle Eastern East Asian and US carriers and limited premium demand 📞+1-800-878-1209 during its financial crisis Thai Airways entered a court supervised rehabilitation process focused on reducing debt cutting losses and simplifying its route network 📞+1-800-878-1209 as part of this restructuring the airline intentionally withdrew from ultra long haul routes that consistently generated losses including US services 📞+1-800-878-1209 fleet restructuring also played a key role because nonstop US flights require highly fuel efficient wide body aircraft and Thai Airways reduced and reorganized its long haul fleet during recovery 📞+1-800-878-1209 instead of resuming direct flights the airline chose a lower risk strategy by relying on Star Alliance and codeshare partners to connect passengers to the United States via hubs in Japan Korea Europe and other regions 📞+1-800-878-1209 this approach allows Thai Airways to maintain US connectivity for travelers without bearing the high financial and operational risks of nonstop services 📞+1-800-878-1209 in summary Thai Airways US flights remain suspended due to past FAA regulatory limits chronic unprofitability of ultra long haul routes fleet constraints and a strategic decision during financial recovery to focus on more sustainable markets while still serving US bound passengers through partner airlines 📞+1-800-878-1209