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Aug 6, 2010
Crisis has hit the Philippine Air Lines, the nation’s flag carrier, once more. Several pilots abruptly resigned last week amidst labor dispute in the company, triggering domestic and international flights cancellation that stranded thousands of passengers and wasted cargoes.
The reason given why the pilots left PAL was that they moved to some Asian and Middle East airlines which offered good pay and benefits compared to what PAL was giving them. Another reason could be that they were sympathizing with the thousands of PAL crew, attendants and other workers who stand to lose their jobs under a privatization plan of Chairman Lucio Tan.
To prevent the problem from getting worse, the government decided to step in and initiated dialogues among the contending parties – PAL management, the pilots and attendants – to resolve their conflicts. Four departments of the government led by the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Department of Labor and Employment are at the forefront of this negotiation which so far has produced good results and which led to the normalization of PAL operations. And heeding the government’s request, PAL announced it was willing to take back the 25 pilots that abandoned the flag carrier without sanctions. Under their contract with PAL, the pilots should give prior notice of 180 days before leaving the company, the reason being to give time for management to find their replacement without necessarily disrupting the services of PAL. The airline, however, stood firm that if the pilots did not comply and return to work, they will face charges and other sanctions.
And if the impasse between PAL management and its employees is not resolved, the government may take over the firm it once owned. The crisis PAL is in is a sad part of the once glorious history of the national flag carrier. PAL, when it started operating in 1941, was the oldest airline in Asia. Japan even borrowed one of its planes to found its own national carrier. PAL also was the most modern airline in Asia for some time. If only to protect the Philippine Air Lines, which is now a part of the national heritage, those resigned pilots should return to the PAL cockpit to give time for management to find their replacement. Until then, they can leave with dignity and honor. The employees who also plan to stage a strike should think twice before doing so, otherwise this may lead to eventual disintegration of the national carrier. Management, for its part, must improve the pay scale and benefits and the working conditions of its pilots and workers to make them at par with those of the other airlines in the region.