Business Mirror
October 11, 2011
By Lenie Lectura
Hong Kong-based Jardine Airport Services Ltd. (JASL) is negotiating with one of the service providers of Philippine Airlines (PAL) for a possible partnership to improve the ground-handling services at the Terminal 2 of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), where PAL houses its international and domestic operations.
JASL provides customized airport ground services from passenger handling, ramp, cargo and operations control at Hong Kong’s Chek Lap Kok International Airport. JASL top officials were in Manila recently for a meeting with SkyLogistics Philippines Inc., which took over the ground-handling operations of PAL on October 1.
SkyGroup President Rory Jon Q. Sepulveda said JASL executives visited the country to explore a possible tie up. He said JASL Managing Director Enoch Lam and two of his key lieutenants toured PAL’s hub at the Naia Centennial Terminal 2 with the SkyLogistics team. They observed ramp operations, cargo and passenger handling and took note of how these can be improved based on their experience at the Hong Kong airport.
Sepulveda said the SkyGroup is keen in forging a partnership with JASL due to the Hong Kong company’s solid reputation and technical expertise in ground-handling operations.
“Jardine Airport Services is one of the world’s best airport-service providers. We’re honored that it has taken interest in our modest operations. We hope we could reach an agreement soon so that our customer, PAL and its millions of passengers, can benefit from their expertise,” he said.
Lam was accompanied by General Manager Dave Li and Manpower Planning Manager Walter Yu during the brief tour. They also made preliminary suggestions on how to make SkyGroup’s operations more efficient and cost-effective, Sepulveda said.
JASL played a key role in making Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) the world’s best airport, based on Skytrax’s March 2011 survey of 11 million travelers. Last year the 13-year-old HKIA was also recognized as the world’s busiest airport by cargo traffic.
Apart from its operations at HKIA, JASL, a joint venture between Jardine Matheson Group and China National Aviation Co., also has interests in Taiwan’s travel industry. Established in 1998, JASL is also taking a regional perspective on business and is continuing to expand its presence in both mainland China and the Asia-Pacific region.
PAL’s catering business is now being managed by SkyKitchen Philippines Inc., which is also part of SkyGroup. The flag carrier’s call-center reservation unit, meanwhile, is being handled by SPi Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co.
The spin-off program is a chief component of PAL’s survival plan launched in early 2010 after it lost $312 million for its 2008 and 2009 fiscal years. While it posted modest profits of $72.5 million in 2010, it is again back in the red after recording $10.6 million losses for the first quarter of its current fiscal year due to unstable fuel prices, the devastating tsunami in Japan and the lingering conflict in the Middle East and North Africa.
Meanwhile, PAL management on Monday sought heavier police presence in and around Naia Terminal 2 due to “complaints of harassment and acts of violence” against PAL volunteers and service providers.
PAL said it requested the Aviation Security Group and Southern Police District to deploy more policemen, especially in areas where PAL workers pass on their way to and from work.
“We deplore, in the strongest possible terms, the harassment perpetrated by former PAL employees against our volunteers and service providers. These workers selflessly share their time and skills to keep PAL flying. They deserve protection from authorities,” the airline said in a statement.
PAL management said it received “numerous complaints” and is documenting all cases of “verbal abuse and, in some instances, damage to vehicles” of PAL volunteers and former union members who decided to join PAL’s new service providers.
“This morning, ex-PAL employees led by former [union] leaders, stormed Charter House Hotel in Makati with a very open and clear intention of harassing PAL volunteers from various outstations. This and many other forms of abuse are the kind of harassment we’re talking about,” PAL said.
The company stressed that PAL volunteers from its provincial stations—composed of licensed ground equipment operators—are not “scabs” but “legitimate workers performing official functions.”
No comments:
Post a Comment