Medium Rare

Fly or fry
By JULLIE Y. DAZA
August 20, 2010, 4:45pm
Manila Bulletin

If effectively you have failed to live up to your obligations to the people, government will be forced to adopt a policy that will have to side with the riding public rather than the interest of one corporation.
– President Aquino Thank you, Mr. President, for siding with the riding public and not that “one corporation,” Philippine Airlines. On the other hand, when has government favored the national flag-carrier? And now, on top of all its labor woes – pilots turning their back on the airline after the P1 million spent to train each of them; flight attendants and ground staff poised to strike – it looks like the pressure is on the airline to jettison its owners and vice-versa.

The Tourism secretary is calling for “partial open skies.” What’s that? Like a half-pregnant woman? someone who’s half-corrupt, like a cheating golfer who would make an ideal tax collector?
The riding public will benefit directly from government’s pro-passenger stance if it would, aha and ehem, subsidize PAL like all those Middle Eastern airlines are subsidized by their governments.
Our airport is probably the only one in this part of the world where one and only one European airline, KLM, flies in because all the others just cannot compete with the subsidized fares of their Middle Eastern competitors.

Subsidizing PAL, what a great way to fly!