PAL cancels flights due to pilot shortage

Saturday, 31 July 2010 02:00 PM Angeli Sabillo

At least 11 Philippine Airplane flights were cancelled today due to lack of pilots.

GMANews.tv cited PAL spokesperson Jonathan Gesmundo’s interview with DZBB, saying that several PAL pilots indiscriminately resigned and applied for other airlines. “In past days, pilots had not been reporting for duty. This has caused problems for us,” Gesmundo said.

He said what had happened was not a group action and had nothing to do with the management’s labor dispute with the PAL Employees’ Association (PALEA). The pilots were reported to have been poached with foreign airlines offering larger salaries.

DZBB’s Carlo Mateo said at least five international and 13 local flights were affected. The delayed flights include: PR-318, PR-313, PR-319 to Hong Kong; PR-843 and 844, to and from Cebu; PR-181 and 182, to and from Cagayan; PR-133 and 134, to and from Bacolod; PR-147 and 148, to and from Iloilo.

All of the cancelled flights were said to have involved 1830 aircrafts, forcing the management to decide if they should ground the 1830 aircrafts for a while. Gesmundo said they have their own PAL Aviation School in Clark, Pampanga but it would take several months before the new pilots are trained in flying the said planes.

The affected passengers have already been notified and they will be taking flights tomorrow morning. PAL management is thinking of using bigger aircrafts to accommodate more passengers.

Bishop asks for political intervention

Meanwhile, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo asked President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III to help resolve the dispute regarding PAL’s restructuring plan.

Pabillo, who heads the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (NASSA-JP), said it would affect thousands of workers.

PAL, owned by business magnate Lucio Tan, was recently allowed by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to outsource critical operations that would evidently affect and most likely cost the jobs of 3,500 employees. There are currently 7,500 PAL employees.

According to Pabillo, the action goes against the company and the employees’ collective bargaining agreement which has provisions against labor contracting and ensures job security. “There are existing policies against labor contracting even within the airline company so it’s unbelievable that the DOLE came out with such ruling," he said.

The bishop urged new Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to review the decision and decide what is morally and legally right, ignoring pressure from big businesses.

Labor disputes in all fronts

Besides the mass resignation from pilots, the PAL spin-off caused the retrenchment of several PALEA members. The International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) said it was in fact a union-busting move since all those affected were union members.

At the same time, the PAL- Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (FASAP) are now reportedly planning to strike, protesting the lowered retirement age. The PAL management has lowered the compulsory retirement age to 40. FASAP said such discrimination among other things were enough basis to file their Notice of Strike.

FASAP has 1,600 members. Since June 2007, PAL’s flight attendants have not received any salary increase.

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites