PAL: No safety protocols have been compromised

By Rudy Santos (The Philippine Star)
October 10, 2011

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Airlines (PAL) assured the riding public yesterday that safety is, and always will be, the airline’s top priority and none of its strict safety protocols have been compromised after the flag carrier’s outsourcing program took effect last Oct. 1.

Stressing that safety is the cornerstone of PAL’s operations, the flag carrier brushed aside attempts by its former employees to sow doubt in the minds of the flying public on the safety of PAL operations.

“We assure our passengers that all aircraft utilized in our flights are released only after thorough assessment and safety checks,” PAL president Jaime Bautista stressed.

He added that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) has a surveillance inspection team especially assigned to PAL.

Bautista said all PAL aircraft are maintained by Lufthansa Technik Philippines and other reputable maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) companies abroad and all safety regulations are likewise complied with particularly those enforced by CAAP, US Federal Aviation Administration and US Transport Security Administration, as well as regular safety checks under the stringent IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA).

PAL is the only IOSA-certified Philippine carrier.

“Apart from strict security checks, PAL flights also undergo a final safety check by our highly trained and experienced pilots. A PAL plane will not take off until pilots are fully satisfied with the aircraft’s airworthiness and only after they have determined the safe load of passengers and cargo,” he added.

Bautista said PAL’s current corps of admin volunteers, former union members who joined the service providers and new hires all underwent proper training and certification prior to handling official ground duties.

He dismissed as “black propaganda” allegations by former PAL employees led by Gerry Rivera that “overworked” PAL staff and untrained personnel were compromising airline safety. “Former PAL ground workers are so used to working less than their 7.5-hour daily shift for five days, such that they consider our volunteers’ eight-hour shifts, six days a week as ‘overwork’,” Bautista said.

“Even claims that an airstep bumped and caused damage to one of PAL’s Airbus A340s is a fabrication concocted by Rivera and his cohorts. All our aircraft undergo regular checks and no such damage has been found by PAL’s Aircraft Engineering Department and Lufthansa Technik, PAL’s maintenance provider,” he stressed.