Government should help PAL
TAKIN' CARE OF BUSINESS By Babe Romualdez (The Philippine Star) Updated February 02, 2010 12:00 AM
Whatever they say about taipan Lucio Tan, no one can argue that he has been relentless in his efforts to keep Asia’s oldest airline and the country’s flag carrier, PAL, a source of national pride, keeping it afloat. The Asian financial crisis in 1997 definitely did not help and almost brought PAL down to its knees.
The gradual turnaround, plus the operational restructuring that resulted in its successful exit from receivership several years ago, encouraged PAL to take on a more ambitious expansion and re-fleeting program in 2006 as it inked a deal with Boeing for the delivery of six B777-300ER aircraft to be completed by 2011. PAL was hoping to increase its flights to the US and expand its services to several destinations like San Diego, Chicago, New York as well as Saipan.
Unfortunately, all these plans and hopes were dashed when the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) in 2007 downgraded its rating for the Philippines from Category 1 to Category 2, saying the Philippines was an unsafe port of origin as it cited the government’s failure to comply with standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in providing safety oversight of its air carrier operators.
This downgrade adversely affected PAL because the carrier could not tap new destinations and expand its US market since it was not allowed to increase its flights to the US and US territories. PAL could not also use the new Boeing 777-300ERs to existing US destinations. These long-range aircraft were bought specifically for long-range markets like the United States, and it’s rather ironic that while PAL is contributing to the US economy by buying these American aircraft, it cannot even fly the same to American soil.
After all, it’s the government’s aviation system which failed in the reviews/assessments conducted by the FAA – not PAL – so why can’t an airline which has an impressive safety record bring in American-made aircraft to their place of origin?
In any case, the government reacted to the downgrade by closing down the Air Transportation Office and rushing the creation of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines or CAAP in 2008 to address the findings of the FAA and upgrade the status of the Philippines to Category 1. If I remember correctly, GMA even gave them a 90-day deadline. But aside from the name change, nothing much has been done by the CAAP to rectify the situation.
And as if the FAA downgrade was not enough, here comes another blow with the ICAO’s recent inclusion of the Philippines among several countries with “Significant Safety Concern” or SSC rating such as Angola, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Congo, Djibouti, Kazakhstan, Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia.
Simply put, ICAO is saying that the Philippines does not have safe civil aviation systems, perhaps because the people who are supposed to oversee air safety concerns are busy quarreling with each other. CAAP director general Ruben Ciron has been at odds with an official of the employee’s union who is blaming the former for the country’s failure to regain Category 1 status with the FAA.
Cesar Lucero, the union official, has accused Ciron of being more concerned with hiring fellow retired military officials to highly technical positions who do not have the necessary expertise to efficiently run the agency. Ciron in turn tried to downplay the ICAO’s SSC issuance, even pointing out that the problems plaguing CAAP have been in existence even before his term and were mainly due to corruption and mismanagement in the former ATO administrations which Lucero was part of.
In the first place, the Philippines will not be able to upgrade its rating if these people will not stop their wrangling. Perhaps they should listen to a suggestion for CAAP to consult with the pilots of PAL who have the training, the discipline as well as the expertise and experience regarding safety and other issues. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that as long as the downgrade is not addressed, tourism, transport, cargo and other sectors will continue to be affected.
PAL president Jimmy Bautista has been quietly and patiently pushing for government to get the Category 2 rating lifted. Jimmy, known for being an unassuming and low-key guy, has worked so hard and done great in the successful turnaround of PAL, and it would really be disastrous to see all his efforts gone to waste just because government can’t get its act together.
No one will argue that the airline industry has been going through tough times partly due to the global financial crisis, and just how gloomy things have been can be seen in the recent bankruptcy of JAL, Asia’s biggest carrier. Fortunately, the government of Japan is stepping in to bail out its flag carrier by way of a loan.
Obviously, no one would like to see this country’s flag carrier go the way of JAL. Which is why government should help PAL by making sure that the agencies tasked to oversee the country’s civil aviation systems are doing their jobs properly, instead of engaging in protracted turf wars.