From GMA.TV.
President Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III on Friday renewed his threat to open Philippine skies to other airlines if the country's flag carrier, Philippine Airlines (PAL), fails to resolve its row with its flight attendants.
In an ambush interview after a Navy counter-terror demo in Cavite, Aquino said the policy review about opening Philippine skies is now being "fast-tracked."
"The open skies policy, the review is bring fast-tracked and if it is necessary we will do it to minimize disruption to the riding public," Aquino said.
Aquino made the statement a day after the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP) filed a notice of strike at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). According to FASAP president Bob Anduiza, their strike may start either late October or November.
FASAP is a labor union representing 1,600 flight attendants. FASAP earlier questioned PAL's mandatory retirement for flight attendants who reach age 40. PAL, however, claimed that this was part of their collective bargaining agreement with them.This is a touchy issue. One is do we maintain our sovereignty and protect PAL at all cost or do we globalized and open up the sky to other airlines?
By far, PAL's employees are pretty well paid compared to the majority of the Filipinos. Some may not be to international standards, but I believe international pay standards has to come with international standards service. PAL is really lagging behind in this department.
I've flown with PAL and other airlines. By far, for international travel, specially for long haul flights, PAL has older stewardesses compared to other carriers. I don't mind the age and I don't believe age is a factor as long as the performance is the same. The problem I have with PAL is that they usually have lousy service. A lot of them looks annoyed if you ask them for something. Like it's a bother to ask them for water or food. They could do well to smile a little bit too.
For too long, PAL's service while showing improvement I feel is still not up to the standards of other airlines. They charge a lot, but it doesn't feel like what they charge is worth what you're getting when you compare them to Cathay Pacific or other airlines. They sometimes feel like budget airlines and budget airlines actually have better service than PAL at times.
Like any monopolies, they get complacent and whatever improvement they say they do, it's mostly talk with very little action. Perhaps opening up the sky to other airlines and bringing in competition will finally kick PAL to change its ways and improve their efficiency not just in terms of service but also financially.
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