PAL, MRT 3 and other travails

Let’s get one thing straight. Re-nationalizing Philippine Airlines (PAL) is not the way out of its troubles. Not now. Maybe never. After allowing its privatization after decades of running and, yes, subsidizing it to no avail, the government cannot go back now and pour more hard-earned money after bad. The solution to PAL’s current travails lies somewhere else. With a little more creativity and patience and goodwill from all stakeholders, including the government and the riding public, I have no doubt the flag carrier’s problems will soon be over.

Let’s start with the pilots. PAL president Jaime Bautista has said they will be open to reemploying the 26 pilots who resigned en masse some days back and ensure that the terms of their contract will be properly complied with. The resignees’ publicly stated reason for going out is some of their colleagues’ “transfer” to Air Philippines, PAL’s low-cost carrier. Of course, we all know that they were enticed with higher salaries (double the salary was reportedly the minimum package) and other perks. Those who will not return to work today, August 9, will of course be charged with “breach of contract” and will, at the minimum, be made to reimburse PAL for all the expenses they have incurred in training and certifying them, which is par for the course.

But just the same, PAL’s “open arms” gesture is a welcome development. Now, even as the current collective bargaining agreement still subsist, Bautista and the pilots’ union should probably have “informal discussions” to iron out a longer-term solution to the problem. For, if truth be told, this will not be the last poaching of pilots and other key personnel from PAL and even the other local carriers. As the global economy recovers, we should expect the airline industry to rev up as well and the competition will always look at the country as a ready-made recruitment base. So, quite apart from shouldering the costs of training and certification for its pilots, PAL should probably consider the suggestion of Capt. Elmer Peña who heads the Airline Pilots Association of the Philippines. Peña was quoted as saying that “to stem the tide of pilots going out, just give them job security and a small increase.” He mentioned a 10-percent salary increase as acceptable. Add to that, Peña posited that the carrier should also retain the pilots’ 20-percent retirement fund and professional-disability fund, both of which are supposed to be part of the existing collective bargaining agreement. To my mind, these are not impossible demands, despite the fact that PAL is reportedly hemorrhaging due to competition from low-cost carriers and increasing operational costs.

As to the other problem involving the flight attendants and stewards, no less than the union has already hinted a solution—scrap the 40-year retirement age in the existing collective bargaining agreement, a reasonable salary increase and, like the pilots, security of tenure which may include a tweak in the retirement and disability funds. Again, these are not impossible demands and with enough goodwill from all sides, there is no question the problem can be thrashed out before another wayward comment emanates from some official somewhere. If the government is really intent on providing some cushion for PAL and the other carriers, it can probably look at the entire environment it has put in place to keep our carriers going. Can it reduce the landing and other handling fees at the airports? Can it provide tax rebates for parts, even fuel and other cost items? Can it provide a “special lending window” similar to the package which the US, Europe and the other countries have been providing for their own carriers? Can it renegotiate the air pacts and rules, which have been put in place prior to 9/11 and other such extraordinary developments many of which carry a heavy load on our carriers? These and other measures, if reviewed and creatively reconfigured, can probably make the ongoing negotiations at PAL a little less problematic than they are now. –J.A. de la Cruz / Coast-to-Coast, Businessmirror