Airlines nearing brink of collapse 6 Up to 20,000 workers could lose their jobs, writes Narumon Kasemsuk published : 22 Jul 2021 at 04:04 6 A screenshot captures senior executives of seven Thai airlines and the moderator (top left) during a virtual press conference held on Wednesday. Over 20,000 employees from seven airlines are on the verge of losing their jobs if the ban imposed on domestic flights is prolonged to three months without help from the long-awaited 5-billion-baht soft loan from the government, according to the Airlines Association of Thailand (AAT). AAT president, Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, said the aviation industry in Thailand is facing a critical downturn since the pandemic last year with passenger numbers decreasing by 64.7% in 2020. However, the current situation is ravaging the cash flow of all airlines as since Wednesday they are unable to serve domestic flights from and to dark red zones.