PAL slowly back to normal

Manila Bulletin
September 30, 2011
By Anjo Perez

MANILA, Philippines — Two days after a wildcat strike undertaken by the ground service staff of Philippine Airlines paralyzed its operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2, the air carrier is slowly back to normal with volunteers from its administration departments filling in the posts abandoned by its striking workers.

With the new workforce coming from PAL's new service providers expected to report for duty Saturday, PAL has temporarily scaled down its operations to allow the new staff a smoother transition.

While assuring the riding its operations will continue despite the scheduled massive demonstration from its ground-based labor group Friday against its spin-off(outsourcing), PAL management sought the help of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Manila International Airport (MIA) authorities to ensure smooth operations despite the protest action from Philippine Airlines Employees’ Association (PALEA).

“We have already prepared the necessary contingency plan in case there will be a demonstration today,” Villaluna said, adding that the airline’s ground service operations are now sufficiently staffed by their contractuals who has started replacing PAL’s regular employees.

This after PALEA President Gerardo Rivera said his group will “hold a big protest at the airport tomorrow (September 30), the last day of work for 2,600 PAL employees adversely affected by the outsourcing plan.”

On Tuesday, about 300 members of PALEA held a wild cat strike in protest of the spin off. President Jaime Bautista estimated the foregone revenues from the work stoppage that resulted to the cancellation of over 200 scheduled flights between $8 and $10 million.

As of press time, PAL and PALEA officials are meeting with Labor and Employment Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz to discuss possible avenues that would avert the situation from further deteriorating.

Meanwhile, the reduced schedule of flights was also brought about by the emergency repair of several ground handling equipment that were sabotaged by the striking workers.

“Despite our best efforts to restore normalcy at NAIA Terminal 2, it is unfortunate that the union still persists in hampering our airport operations and preventing the delivery of service to our passengers,” PAL said through a statement.

"Although operations slightly improved, a total of 64 domestic and 40 international flights were cancelled Friday due to manpower shortage even as hundreds of PAL volunteers stepped in to perform check-in, ramp and catering functions."

Last Wednesday, PAL operated a special flight from Haneda airport in Tokyo to Manila, carrying President Aquino and his party after a working visit to Japan.

PAL operated 18 regular international flights and 18 domestic flights all day Thursday.

The airline firm expects to return to normal operations within a month after its designated service providers – Sky Logistics, Sky Kitchen and SPi Global – formally take over the airline’s ground-handling, catering and call-center reservations functions, respectively

PAL has deployed a corps of trained management volunteers to handle these functions during the transition period to the service providers.

“PAL apologizes to the passengers for the inconvenience caused by the flight cancellations and unexpected delays,” PAL said. (with reports from Sam Medenilla and Madel Sabater)