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Thai ditches Rolls engines and goes with GE

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Old 14th Feb 2024, 20:41
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Thai ditches Rolls engines and goes with GE

It what has to be a major blow to both Rolls and Airbus, Thai Air had decided they are fed up with Rolls Royce and are going to go with GE engines in the future. That means no more A350s...

Rolls Ditched as Thai Air’s Engine Supplier in New Jet Deal (msn.com)
Rolls-Royce was publicly rebuked by Thailand’s flag carrier in November when Thai Airways Chief Executive Officer Chai Eamsiri threatened to take his business elsewhere after Rolls balked at price concession the airline sought. Rolls has also attracted heat from Emirates over the durability of its Trent XWB-97 engines on A350-1000s.

The British enginemaker has been on a quest to boost profitability under CEO Tufan Erginbilgic, renegotiating existing contracts and taking a tougher line with customers on new deals. The approach has ruffled some feathers but the Thai order marks one of the first times Rolls has publicly lost out on a deal as a result.
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Old 15th Feb 2024, 02:07
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Another Pharma Bro wannabe is getting a reality check. How dare Thai Air demand value from Rolls Royce !
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Old 15th Feb 2024, 02:23
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This will have nothing to do with value and everything do with coloured envelopes
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Old 15th Feb 2024, 02:39
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Here's a link to a newspaper article about some previous dealings between RR and TG:
https://www.thaipbsworld.com/the-rol...into-nosedive/
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Old 15th Feb 2024, 09:12
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So the real reason is that RR is not willing to bribe them anymore?

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Old 15th Feb 2024, 10:03
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Of course this is just some small Asian nation where bribery and corruption are common and of course never happen in Global Britain. I think RR are in no position to boost profits and strengthen balance sheets BUT they do need to fix either the problem or perception of reliability first before it starts to spread , Luckily there are not that many competitors and its a bit like B vs A , customers cannot just change since there are not many people making wide body engines but I dont think the CEO is the right guy fo r RR just now if he focusses on finance not product.
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Old 15th Feb 2024, 21:51
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Thais not Chinese...but red packets gladly accepted...
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Old 16th Feb 2024, 04:40
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I wonder if the dude running Rolls in chasing profitability, will end up making the same errors as befell the dude running Boeing doing much the same?
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Old 16th Feb 2024, 18:43
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Originally Posted by procede
So the real reason is that RR is not willing to bribe them anymore?
I'd be a little surprised if GE resorted to bribery to encourage the switch.
The US has pretty strict laws regarding such things - and in the past people have gone to prison for bribing foreign officials to obtain business orders.
When I spent time working in Indonesia about 30 years ago, I was given strict guidance - to the effect that if they found out I'd bribed any Indonesian officials, I'd be fired - no ifs, ands, or buts... This actually caused me some issues getting my long-term work permit - at the time bribes in order to get your paperwork processed were simply considered a part of the Indonesian process - and without such, my paperwork simply sat. Finally, when my temporary permit was about to expire (which would have forced me to leave the country), the local Boeing manager went to his file cabinet, grabbed a handful of 'Boeing' trinkets (Boeing key chains, money clips, etc.), and the two of us proceeded to go person to person getting my work permit processed (it was all in the same building which made it convenient). We'd go to whoever had the paperwork - give them a keychain or other trinket - and say we needed my paperwork done. It would be finished in a few minutes as we stood there, then it was taken to the next person in the process and those steps repeated.
I had my approved long-term work permit by the end of the day.
Apparently, giving away trinkets doesn't count as bribes, but cash does.
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Old 16th Feb 2024, 21:11
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When I spent time working in Indonesia about 30 years ago, I was given strict guidance - to the effect that if they found out I'd bribed any Indonesian officials, I'd be fired - no ifs, ands, or buts...
I also worked in Indonesia, about ten years before you, tdracer. The oil company I worked for had a similar policy. I had to sign a document indicating that I would abide by the policy. Luckily there was a significant 'but' in the policy. 'Facilitating payments' were allowed to grease the bureaucratic wheels, so I never had any problem with work permits (KIM-S).

An interesting example of this policy was how to obtain a driving licence. For next to no money, you could hang around the Jakarta police headquarters for a couple of days, going to various offices, getting paperwork stamped and doing a driving test.

For $100, you could go there with a minder and complete the process in a couple of hours, without taking a driving test. For $300, you could skip the visit and have the licence delivered!

Out of curiosity, I took the cheaper option. One part of the process was a multiple-choice exam on the Indonesian traffic rules. It had been so badly translated into English, that it was impossible to understand. Luckily, a helpful policeman stood by my desk and pointed out the correct boxes to check!
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Old 17th Feb 2024, 00:19
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Don't know how prevalent the practice was in Asia but in Indonesia it was said that employees salary was low because the employer knew that the person in the position would be able to make $XXX from facilitation payments (bribes).
'Facilitating payments'
We must have worked for the same oil company IFT, the ethics lecture always contained the statement "We dont pay bribes but do make facilitation payments", your use of the word "facilitation" is a bit of a giveaway as to the company, the big E.
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Old 17th Feb 2024, 03:43
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Originally Posted by megan
your use of the word "facilitation" is a bit of a giveaway as to the company, the big E.
Not really a giveaway - I worked for a smaller oil company in Africa and we also used the term. It was very frustrating - you did your best as an expat not to play but you really couldn't do your job without it.
It was endemic - everything from customs clearance of personal effects shipments to entry visas and vaccinations. I had a BA travel clinc yellow card with a "cholera" vaccine stamp on a separate piece of paper even though the vaccination was not required by the WHO and never given. Sometimes even that didn't work... in one country I was directed to the "health control" counter with a scary looking jar of used and bloody syringes on it. The conversation went like this: Officer in dirty white coat: "you must have cholera vaccine". Me: "How much to have the vaccine?" Officer "Ten dollars U.S." Me: How much NOT to have the vaccine?" Officer: "Ten dollars U.S.". I happened to go back after they built the new airport many years later and saw a sign over the unoccupied health counter "Cholera vaccine is not required"...

Last edited by Pinkman; 17th Feb 2024 at 03:55.
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Old 17th Feb 2024, 03:59
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megan,

no I didn't work for 'the big E'.

Pinkman,

I had a friend in Singapore who needed a vaccination to travel to Africa (yellow fever?). He went to a clinic and was told the fee was $10 if he just wanted the stamp in his vaccination booklet or $30 if he actually wanted the vaccination!
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Old 17th Feb 2024, 06:09
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Originally Posted by India Four Two
I also worked in Indonesia, about ten years before you, tdracer. The oil company I worked for had a similar policy. I had to sign a document indicating that I would abide by the policy. Luckily there was a significant 'but' in the policy. 'Facilitating payments' were allowed to grease the bureaucratic wheels, so I never had any problem with work permits (KIM-S).

An interesting example of this policy was how to obtain a driving licence. For next to no money, you could hang around the Jakarta police headquarters for a couple of days, going to various offices, getting paperwork stamped and doing a driving test.

For $100, you could go there with a minder and complete the process in a couple of hours, without taking a driving test. For $300, you could skip the visit and have the licence delivered!
All very much still in place in the capital of a well-known major western country, when getting visas to travel to such places.

There's a longwinded "official" process, and there are agents. Guess who owns the agencies ?
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Old 17th Feb 2024, 06:51
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All very interesting, but relevant to the thread? By all means start a thread in JB on your reminiscences of "graft".
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Old 17th Feb 2024, 20:24
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In my former company we called RR „Rotating Rubbish“ all missed the GEs until they came back with the 748
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Old 17th Feb 2024, 22:33
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Originally Posted by pax britanica
Of course this is just some small Asian nation where bribery and corruption are common and of course never happen in Global Britain. I think RR are in no position to boost profits and strengthen balance sheets BUT they do need to fix either the problem or perception of reliability first before it starts to spread , Luckily there are not that many competitors and its a bit like B vs A , customers cannot just change since there are not many people making wide body engines but I dont think the CEO is the right guy fo r RR just now if he focusses on finance not product.
Small Asian nation?

Same population as the UK, twice the size.

https://fanclubthailand.co.uk/45-int...6.79%20million.
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Old 18th Feb 2024, 05:16
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Originally Posted by FlexibleResponse
I wonder if the dude running Rolls in chasing profitability, will end up making the same errors as befell the dude running Boeing doing much the same?
Unlike plane makers, engine makers are doing it hard. The financial risk of bleeding edge engines is huge and losing them money.
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Old 18th Feb 2024, 06:34
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Originally Posted by RickNRoll
Unlike plane makers, engine makers are doing it hard. The financial risk of bleeding edge engines is huge and losing them money.
My thoughts! They all pushed the limits and maybe went over it with their latest generations.

Doesn't mean not to criticize them. What did RR do wrong in recent years? More than the other two?

Time for the aircraft manufacturers to return to multi vendor strategy?
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Old 18th Feb 2024, 10:58
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all the big engine manufacturers have had troubles with their latest set of engines - probably pushing the technology to the absolute limits - and of course faced by a duopoly of airframers you HAVE to give them a price they Iike otherwise there is no-one to sell to
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