PAL files charges vs 16 resigned pilots

Sunday, 12 September 2010 11:58 Recto Mercene / Reporter
BusinessMirror

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) has filed the first batch of civil cases against 16 pilots—eight captains and eight first officers—for abandonment of duty, breach of contract, and failure to reimburse to the flag carrier the cost of their training.

Lodged before the Regional Trial Court in Makati, the cases stemmed from the sudden resignation of 26 PAL pilots last month, which forced the airline to either cancel or reduce some domestic flights. The 16 pilots belong to the group that left for abroad to work with Middle Eastern and Asian airlines.
PAL told the court it lost P2 million owing to the flight disruptions.

The respondents, who used to operate the airline’s Airbus 320 fleet, were Capts. Allan Avellanosa, John Joseph de Guzman, Bienvenido Gorospe, Christopher Abella, Alvin Panganiban, Charles Pastrana, Sunny Sim and Jacques Louis Zialcita; and First Officers Gerald Escuril, Regin Lorenzo, Robert Solis, Emmanuel de Lima, Joevan Magbanua, Van Vincent Panganiban, Erwin Sibayan and Darwin Sy.

In its complaint, PAL said the respondents’ sudden departure—without giving the carrier the prescribed 180-day notice—not only breached the respondents’ obligations under their training agreement, but also the airline’s policy on separations or resignations.

The airline requires advanced notice of resignation to avoid disruption of its flight operations since qualified pilots are not readily available in the country’s labor market. This was based on a memorandum circular of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, which declared the position of pilot and aircraft mechanic as “mission critical skills.”

PAL asked the court to order defendants to pay the airline the cost of their training at the PAL Aviation School and settle the cash advances they took under the carrier’s Pilot Loyalty Program. It is also asking at least P1.8 million, plus interest, from each of the first officers, representing the cost of their training that the flag carrier shouldered.

PAL is, likewise, seeking a total of P40 million in actual and exemplary damages from the
respondents.

The agreement between PAL and the pilots provides that for and in consideration of the training provided by PAL, the pilots are required to render five years of continuous satisfactory service as the carrier’s pilots after completing their training.

“Defendants, in breaching their obligations with PAL, acted in a wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive, or malevolent manner. Clause 12 of the defendants’ Training Agreement provides that violation of trainee’s undertakings under the said agreement constitutes fraud against the company,” the airline said in its complaint.

The 180-day notice requirement, the charge sheet added, shall also apply even if trainee’s resignation occurs at any time after completion of the five-year committed service with PAL.