PAL woes helping advance open skies — Tourism chief

August 4, 2010
Manila Standard Today

Philippine Airlines’ cancellation of flights following the resignation of 25 pilots may spur higher ticket prices and encourage the government to ease market restrictions, Tourism Secretary Alberto Lim said on Tuesday.

The reduction in services “shows the need for more carriers to serve the tourism industry as well as business and investment,” Lim said.

Lim, who co-founded the Freedom to Fly Coalition that advocates an open-skies policy as a strategy to promote economic development, said PAL’s labor problems “would help the cause of liberalization.”
The country eased the restrictions on services by overseas carriers following a Philippine Air pilots’ strike in 1998, Lim said, to ease its reliance on the nation’s flag carrier.

The government on Tuesday held another emergency meeting with Philippine Air officials and other local airlines because of concerns the reduction in services may disrupt tourism and exports.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima made it clear the government would avoid a takeover of the capital-strapped airline as it sought to find a solution after 25 of its pilots quit, forcing the cancellation of some flights.

“Government takeover is something we want to avoid but it doesn’t mean it’s not possible,” she told reporters. The government remained optimistic the dispute could be settled amicably.

“The first option is dialogue, then regulation, a mandatory directive from the Department of Labor and Employment, and then the last resort would be a temporary takeover by the government,” De Lima said.

“The next few days would be crucial.”

PAL handled about a third of the nation’s overseas and domestic services, Lim said. The airline canceled 22 flights over the past three days after the pilots quit for better-paying jobs overseas.
The airline would reduce some domestic and regional services, PAL president Jaime Bautista told reporters. Services to the United States would not be affected, he said.

The company said operations returned to normal Tuesday after it fielded larger B747-400 and Airbus 330 aircraft with a combined capacity of 735 passengers to make up for the canceled flights over the past two days.

Flight PR-849 left for Cebu at 2 p.m. with 284 passengers, while PR-857 left at 1:30 p.m., also for Cebu, with 302 passengers.

PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna said all flights at the domestic terminal returned to normal Tuesday and more seats were available because the company was using its biggest aircraft.

“PAL’s average of 160 domestic and international flights continue to operate normally and as scheduled,” she said, adding that only one flight each to Iloilo, Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro had been rescheduled, while all other flights to these provinces remained unchanged. With Rey E. Requejo, Eric Apolonio and Bloomberg