"Airline executives pressured the company's trainers to authorise the use of new, not fully qualified pilots, to cover the gaps, something Mr Sanit says he firmly resisted and which caused great unease among the trainers who were also pilots.
They were among those who refused to fly on Sunday, Mr Sanit said. Their distressed psychological state disqualified them from flying. Thus, Sunday's action was not a strike, not a protest, but was caused by a genuine problem within the company, he said."
The not fully qualified pilots he mentioned actually 2 ex-TG pilots with 20,000+ total flight hours and one of them has a flight with a trainer and CAAT inspector on Feb 14, 2016 for qualifying him as a captain with Nok Air. But 5 Nok Air's trainers called sick leave on that day so this flight was cancel.