PAL assures enough flights to Masskara Festival despite spinoff

Amid the labor problems surrounding preparations to spin off its non-core businesses, flag carrier Philippine Airlines is taking steps to make sure tourists taking part in October’s MassKara Festival in Bacolod will not miss the festivities. PAL assistant vice president for Visayas sales and services Glenn Vallecera said PAL will not reduce the number of its flights during the spinoff transition during the peak dates of MassKara. In an interview posted on the Visayan Daily Star, Vallecera also said PAL will use its larger Airbus planes to accommodate more passengers headed for Bacolod and can add more flights if necessary. Fernando Bermejo, PAL-Bacolod manager, said PR131/PR132 that arrives in Bacolod at 5:50 a.m. and departs for Manila at 6:20 a.m. from Sept. 27 to October 21 will be temporarily canceled – except on October 14, 15 and 19 for the MassKara Festival. PR157/PR158, which arrives in Bacolod City at 3:15 p.m. and departs for Manila at 3:45 p.m., has also been canceled from October 1 to 6, except October 2. The following flights have been rescheduled: PR133 Manila Bacolod from 8:30 a.m. to 7:50 a.m., and PR134 Bacolod-Manila from10:10 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. from September 27 to October 21, he added. He said the Bacolod-Manila flight at 6:45 p.m. daily will continue as scheduled. PAL is temporarily reducing its flights during the spinoff transition, including half of those flying to the Bacolod-Silay Airport. But Vallecera said that while 2,300 of some 8,000 PAL employees will be affected by the spinoff, none of the PAL employees in Negros Occidental will be affected. He maintained the spinoff became necessary because PAL and other global carriers recently experienced extremely weak passenger and cargo demand due to the global financial crisis. Moreover, he said the unabated liberalization of air traffic rights, cut-throat competition from local and regional low-cost carriers, the US federal Aviation Administration’s downgrade of the Philippine aviation safety to Category 2, and the European Union total ban on Philippine carriers from flying anywhere in Europe are making things worse for PAL. — LBG, GMA News