MANILA - GOOD morning, passengers, and welcome aboard. We're expecting clear skies today, but we're out of pilots.
National air carrier Philippine Airlines had to cancel at least five flights on Saturday - one to Hong Kong, the others to domestic destinations - after several Airbus A320 pilots decamped for jobs abroad.
Brain drain - the decamping of professionals, including teachers and nurses, for better jobs abroad - has long plagued the impoverished South-east Asian nation. About 10 percent of the population of 94 million works abroad, sending home the money that provides the bloodline for the economy.
PAL spokesman Jonathan Gesmundo went on TV and radio stations to apologise to the public for the cancellations, which he said were caused by the sudden departure of nearly dozen pilots for better-paying jobs overseas.
He said the pilots did not inform the management, but that this was not a group action. 'In the past few days, pilots had not been reporting for duty. This has caused problems for us,' Mr Gesmundo said.
He said the airline was adjusting its schedule and will probably bring in bigger aircraft to accommodate the stranded passengers. The indebted flag carrier has said it would lay off some of its 8,000-strong work force because of financial losses in the third straight year.
At least 11 flights of flag carrier Philippine Airlines were canceled Saturday, supposedly due to lack of pilots.
PAL spokesman Jonathan Gesmundo admitted the problem was caused by a “brain drain" as some PAL pilots have applied for work in other airlines without informing PAL management.
“May kinalaman sa kakulangan ng piloto. For the past days may piloto di nagpaalam, umalis sa kanilang duty kaya namomroblema kami (This has something to do with the lack of pilots. In past days, pilots had not been reporting for duty. This has caused problems for us)," he said in an interview on dzBB radio.
He apologized for the disruption in flights and downplayed the situation, saying less than a dozen pilots were involved in the situation.
Also, he said the absence of pilots was not a group action.
Gesmundo said they are still adjusting flight schedules, saying PAL management expects the situation to normalize “in few days." He did not elaborate.
A report by dzBB’s Carlo Mateo said at least 13 local and five international flights were also delayed.
Some of the delayed flights are:
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 Noynoy intervention
Meanwhile, a senior Catholic bishop asked President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III to intervene in the row over PAL restructuring plan, which he said may affect thousands of workers.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said Aquino can “prove his sincerity" for the ordinary Filipinos with his "immediate" intervention.
“We ask the President to resolve this issue… especially for new Labor Secretary [Rosalinda] Baldoz to look into the matter," he said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) news site.
Pabillo also heads the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (NASSA-JP).
He added the labor dispute is a “test case" on whether the Aquino administration will favor the ordinary laborers facing risk of losing their jobs.
PAL is part of a group of companies owned by business tycoon Lucio Tan.
Last June, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) allowed the PAL management to outsource critical operations, a move that may cost some 3,500 of the airline's 7,500 employees their jobs.
The PAL Employees’ Association criticized the decision, which former Acting Labor Secretary Romeo Lagman said was a valid exercise of management prerogative.
But Pabillo said PAL's move infringes provisions against labor contracting and on-job security contained within the company’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
“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.
On the other hand, Pabillo urged Baldoz to review the decision and decide based on what is “moral" and “legally right" and not according to pressure by some big and influential businessmen.
An international labor group earlier sought Aquino's help to resolve the labor dispute.
London-based International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) said the PAL spin-off is a union-busting move, because affected employees are all union members.
While ITF general secretary David Cockroft affirms that the aviation industry has been hit hard by the economic crisis, this should not be used as ground to attack the rights of workers.
“ITF affiliates are clear that aviation workers are not responsible for the crisis but have borne a disproportionate burden of its cost," Cockroft said. — LBG,
