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Monday, October 10, 2011

PAL resumes cargo operations

Business Mirror
October 10, 2011
By Lenie Lectura and Recto Mercene

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) over the weekend announced the resumption of its cargo services in all its domestic, Asian regional and intercontinental flights operating out of Naia Terminal 2 in Manila.
“We’re now accepting cargo bookings for all international flights including wide-body domestic flights that operate out of Terminal 2,” said PAL President Jaime J. Bautista in a statement issued on Sunday. “It’s another concrete sign that PAL has turned the corner toward normalizing our operations after the transition phase of our outsourcing program.”

PAL also assured the riding public that its safety protocols have not been compromised after the flag carrier’s outsourcing program took effect on October 1, 2011.

PAL made the assurance in the light of accusations from striking members of the PAL Employees Association (Palea) that the carrier had compromised its safety with the employment of volunteers to replace those who had abandoned their post during a wild-cat strike on September 27.

“We assure our passengers that all aircraft utilized in our flights are released only after thorough assessment and safety checks,” Bautista said. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines has a surveillance inspection team especially assigned to PAL, he said.

“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 said.

Bautista said PAL’s current corps of 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.

PAL cargo operations had been suspended since the September 27 work stoppage staged by the PAL ground crew union that led to the downscaling of PAL operations just before the implementation of its outsourcing program on October 1.

The resumption of cargo operations comes just over a week after PAL implemented a wide-ranging corporate restructuring program that involved the outsourcing, among others, of PAL Cargo.

The union’s wildcat strike not only caused untold passenger inconvenience but also a weeklong suspension of cargo operations that critically affected the shipment and export of perishable goods, farm produce and other vital products.

“The resumption of cargo service is a boon to freight forwarders and exporters who benefit from the flag carrier’s high-capacity, wide-body aircraft and extensive domestic and international network,” Bautista said.

Among the first to be loaded in PAL’s cargo belly were 100 boxes of bananas from ABS-CBN Davao weighing 1.5 tons shipped to ABS-CBN Foundation in Manila. Carried on PR814, the nonrevenue cargo was consigned to ABS-CBN’s “Sagip Kapamilya” for distribution to flood victims in Tarlac and Calumpit, Bulacan.

PAL is currently one of the country’s most important cargo carriers, airlifting 139,284 tons last fiscal year,  or about 382 tons daily (212 tons for international and 170 tons for domestic). This represents a 9-percent increase over the previous fiscal year.

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