Government steps into PAL’s problem on retiring pilots

PASSENGERS of Philippine Airlines (PAL) may continue experiencing delays of flights at least a week more even if the country’s flag carrier demanded its more than two dozen pilots to return to work. In a statement, the Lucio Tan-owned airline carrier rejected the resignation of its pilots and called on them to respect their existing contracts.

Meanwhile, Department of Transportation and Communications Secretary Jose de Jesus has tasked the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines to help resolve the problem in the country’s flag carrier, which was forced to cancel at least 11 flights on Saturday, supposedly because of the lack of pilots.

According to a source from the Transportation and Communication department, de Jesus was instructed by President Benigno Aquino 3rd to resolve the matter.

The airline demanded the pilots to immediately return to work or face civil, criminal and administrative charges.

On Sunday, PAL was again forced to cancel eight flights owing to the pilot shortage, but most affected passengers were accommodated in merged succeeding flights.

The eight cancelled flights include Manila-Cagayan-Manila; Manila-Bacolod-Manila; Manila-Iloilo-Manila; and Manila-Cebu-Manila.

“PAL makes sure that all passengers are attended to,” the airline said as it assured the public that it hopes to get schedules back to normal “within a week.”

In the last few days, PAL was forced to cancel several regional and domestic flights after 13 captains and 12 first officers flying its Airbus A319s and A320s resigned from the flag carrier.

They left without giving PAL ample time to train replacements,” the airline said in a statement.

Representatives of the Association of Airline Pilots of the Philippines were not available for comment as of press time.

PAL said many of the pilots did not show up for work and just handed in their resignation letters.

Some of them even owe PAL millions of pesos for the cost of their training.

The airline spends about P14 million to train each pilot for a period of 10 years.

“PAL doesn’t want to get in the way of its pilots’ dream of landing better paying jobs abroad, but they have contractual obligations with the company and a moral responsibility to thousands of passengers,” PAL said.

Pirated by other airlines
The airline added that most of the resigned pilots were reportedly “pirated” by other carriers in the Asian region including the Middle East where the pay is allegedly two or three times their current salaries.

“By Philippine standards, an Airbus A320 pilot’s pay at PAL is considered ‘high’. But it’s still no match to the offer of foreign carriers. Our problem is, our competitors abroad seem to prefer PAL pilots because they were highly-trained by PAL and renowned for their flying skills,” PAL said.

PAL earlier said that a local pilot only received a salary of $2,000 to $3,000 compared to the $8,000 to $12,000 a month that the foreign airlines offer.

Considered “Mission Critical Skills,” PAL said pilots and aircraft mechanics are required by government regulations to give their local employers at least 180 days or six months to find suitable replacements before taking another job abroad.

PAL added it is talking to various government agencies like the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Civil Aviation Authority of the
Philippines to avert the loss of more pilots to “poachers” abroad.

The airline also intensified the training of more pilots to fill the gap.

A total of 120 pilots from all local airlines left the country since 2000.

The country has more than 700 pilots, 450 of whom work for PAL.

But the militant group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) and the ground crew union Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (Palea) called on PAL
management not to file cases against the pilots who abruptly resigned.

“Think twice before swinging the Damocles sword on the heads of the pilots lest the company face a three-front war against all of its employees,” said Gerry Rivera, Palea president and PM vice chairman. –DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER, Manila Times wITH REPORT FROM FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO