PAL to take 25 pilots back

No sanctions, vows DOTC secretary

The management of flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has agreed to take back 25 pilots who have resigned without any sanctions being imposed on them, Secretary Jose de Jesus of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) said on Monday. Government officials on Monday met separately with the management of PAL and the union representing the pilots who resigned to discuss and resolve the issues that led to the cancellation of several domestic and international flights.

“It is still a work in progress, we have tried to ask PAL officials what the issues are. We also did the same with the pilots,” de Jesus told a press briefing after their separate meetings with the PAL management and the representatives of the pilots.

Though he declined to discuss the issues, the Transportation secretary said that compensation was part of the problem.

To minimize the inconvenience of the public, de Jesus said that the flag-carrier has promised to publish its schedule of flights. He added that PAL also promised to merge some of its flights and to use larger aircraft.

“As along as the passengers know in advance, they will know how to book their flights,” de Jesus said.

“What they will try to do is try to invite back those who have resigned, some of them have left the country, some of them are still here and they will try to talk to them and try to persuade them to come back without any sanctions being imposed,” he added.

De Jesus said that the row between PAL and its pilots would certainly affect the economy unless the issue was resolved immediately.

“It will affect trade, it will affect tourism and ultimately it will affect our reputation. This is the matter we are putting before both the pilots and PAL management to be aware that this has serious consequences unless it is resolved,” he added.

The Transportation chief, however, expressed hope they would be able to resolve the issues.

“We are very hopeful that with good faith on both sides, we should be able to reach some agreement,” de Jesus said.

Public interest

He urged both the pilots and the management of PAL “to remember that they are engaged in public service that pertains to public service.”

De Jesus said that the PAL management and the pilots were both aware that the government has the right to sanction them if the both parties fail to resolve the issues.

He added that they would meet again with the other representatives of the pilots who have resigned from PAL today. After the meeting, de Jesus said that they will arrange a dialogue with PAL between the two groups anytime this week.

“We are doing our best to try to resolve this issue and to minimize the inconvenience that these flight cancellations resulting from the exodus of pilots,” he added.

President Benigno Aquino 3rd earlier ordered Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and the heads of the departments of Transportation and Communication, Labor and Justice to sit down with the PAL management and the union representing the pilots.

“Under the Labor Code, the government can step into a particular controversy if the national interest is at stake,” Palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda said prior to the Monday afternoon meeting.

Lacierda also expressed hopes that the two parties could arrive at an amicable settlement.

“We hope it will come to that settlement because our concern right now are the riding public who will be severely affected if this situation continues,” he said.

PAL cancelled several flights after what the management called the “indiscriminate” resignation of their pilots.

Request to return

Before the meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the management of PAL requested the Aquino administration to stop the pilots who had resigned from flying with foreign carriers as they still have contracts with the country’s flag-carrier.

Jaime Bautista, PAL president, said that they want the government to ask the pilots to comply with their contractual agreements before leaving the flag-carrier.

The airline said that 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 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.

The airline has given the 25 resigned pilots to return to work within seven days or face civil, criminal and administrative charges.

On Monday, Bautista said that PAL canceled four flights.

He disclosed that no pilot has reported back to work.

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.

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

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

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

Stewards complain

Meanwhile, the Flight Attendants’ and Stewards’ Association of the Philippines (Fasap) said that the flights of PAL have been flying “undermanned” for the past couple of years that “adversely affects” the airline’s services.

In a statement, Roberto Anduiza, president of Fasap, said that many flight attendants have also been transferring to other foreign airlines because of lack of security of tenure and the labor problems in PAL.

On April 6, 2010, Anduiza said that PAL management unilaterally reduced the number of flight attendants in its flights, resulting in more work but less pay for the crew.

He added that reducing manpower per flight will be a downgrade rather than an improvement of PAL’s inflight service product.

“PAL has been getting away with its obligations to the riding public. Flights have been taking off undermanned for the past couple of years. This adversely affects the service and safety performance the passenger deserve,” Anduiza said.

Sought for comment, Bautista said that although the airline reduced the number of cabin crew, the reduction still made manning of the flag-carrier comparable with that of other airlines.

He, however, added that the manning complement of PAL is still higher than the minimum number required by law.

Fasap earlier announced its decision to go on strike against PAL’s policy on age and gender discrimination and failure of the management to raise their salary for more than three years.

For the years 2007 and 2008, PAL gave pay increases to members of management, the pilots and other ground personnel, except the flight attendants. –CRIS G. ODRONIA REPORTER AND DARWIN G. AMOJELAR SENIOR REPORTER, Manila Times