PAL labor union wants Labor dept to recall order

Tuesday, 22 June 2010 00:00

THE Philippine Airlines Employees Association (PALEA) on Monday said it will ask the government to reconsider its decision allowing the country’s flag carrier to spin off its three non-core businesses. “We will file a motion for reconsideration on or before June 28. Hopefully, we’ll not be victims of midnight decisions again . . . ,” Gerardo Rivera, president of PALEA said in a text message.

He said members of PALEA will hold a protest rally in front of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Tuesday.

PAL over the weekend said DOLE gave credence to the company’s financial troubles and its need to spin off none-core services as part of its survival strategy.

The affected units are in-flight catering services, airport services (including ground handling cargo terminal/cargo handling and ramp handling) and call center reservations.

The Lucio Tan-owned carrier had said that the spin off will entail letting go some 3,500 out of its 7,500 workforce.

The planned retrenchment was originally set on May 31, but was suspended after the DOLE assumed jurisdiction over a simmering dispute between PAL management and the airline’s labor unions.

The airline will outsource its call center reservations to ePLDT Ventus, which would handle reservations, inquiries, bookings, disruption handling, back-office services and other call center services.

PAL’s catering services will be handled by SkyKitchen Philippines, which is owned by businessman Manuel Osmeña.

The airline caterer provides in-flight meals for Cathay Pacific, Qatar and Cebu Pacific.

PAL’s cargo handling would be outsourced to Sky Logistics.

In addition, PAL will rationalize its medical, information technology and human resource units so it can let go of 500 more employees.

The cost-cutting measures would save the company about P500 million to P1 billion a year. PAL is setting aside P2 billion to P2.5 billion to compensate the displaced workers.

PAL was forced to implement the restructuring plan because of the combined effects of the global recession, high fuel prices, the unabated liberalization of the commercial aviation industry and the recent blacklisting of Philippine carriers by the European Union.

On Monday, PAL said it was the top carrier in terms of flights and seat capacity operating out of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for two consecutive years.

Citing the aviation industry’s main data keeper Official Airline Guide (OAG), the airline said a survey of the top airports in the Asia-Pacific region showed that NAIA’s four terminals handled 1,859 flights per week in 2009, an increase of 12 percent over the 1,654 flights per week handled in 2008.

These flights resulted in 309,616 seats per week flown by all airlines using the NAIA complex in 2009— 11 percent more than the 278,130 seats per week flown in 2008.

Of this traffic volume, PAL had a market-leading share of 35 percent of all flights per week and 38 percent of all seats flown per week at the country’s premier airport.

Both figures represented increases over the 33 percent and 37 percent shares, respectively, that PAL posted in 2008, it added.
DARWIN G. AMOJELAR