Tragic End of PAL?

The Philippine Star
Thursday, September 24, 1998
Roses and Thorns
By Alejandro R. Roces

In the Bible, we have the story of two women who claimed being the mother of a child. Solomon ordered that the child be divided into two so that each woman was amenable, but the other said, "Oh, no! Give her the child, but don't kill him!"

"Give the child to the woman who wants him to live, for she is the real mother," Solomon said.

The predicament of that child is the predicament of PAL. But in PAL’s case, the life of the "child" is secondary. So an old institution dies. The Philippines was the first country in Asia to have a flag carrier. Today, due to a management and labor dispute, we will be the only nation in Asia without a flag carrier. PAL was an institution and the strength of any nation rests on the strength of its institutions. PAL's closure could not have happened at a worse time. It closed just when we are undergoing what could be our very worst economic crisis in our entire history.

The history of PAL is the history of air travel in the Philippines. Contrary to what most people think, PAL actually initiated its operations before the war. On March 15, 1941, a small twin-engine Beech Model 18 flew 212 kms, from Baguio to Manila fully loaded with five passengers! When the war broke out, PAL's two aircrafts became part of the US Army Air Corps. Post-war operations resumed February 14, 1946 with 5 former US Airforce planes. Five months later, PAL chartered DC-4s to transport American servicemen to Oakland giving PAL the distinction of being the first airline to cross the Pacific after the war. By 1952, its international route covered two-thirds of the globe.

PAL went through years of unprofitable operations before it was privatized in 1993. Their situation was further aggravated when President Ramos signed Executive Order No. 219 deregulating Philippine civil aviation. Then just when they went into a $4 billion modernization and expansion plan, the world-wide economic crisis took place. In June 1998, a 22-day pilot strike halted operations. The loss per day was P200 million. So after 57 years of operation, PAL finally closed.

Now, there is no PAL, no PAL management and no PAL union.