PAL, Cebu Pac expanding fleet with passenger, eco-friendly aircraft

MANILA, Philippines —  Mary Ellen Jones, vice president for Asia Pacific Sales of aircraft engines and auxiliary power units manufacturing giant Pratt & Whitney (P&W), told The STAR that Cebu Pacific will take delivery of its first airplane powered by P&W geared turbofan (GTF) engine before the end of the year. 

“They ordered 32 A320neo airplanes with the GTF and they just announced that they are leasing another five. So altogether they will have 37 in their fleet,” Jones said.

PAL, meanwhile, welcomed the delivery of the its first GTF-powered Airbus A321neo last May.

According to Jones, PAL has ordered 15 to date, three of which are currently in service.

“With the recent sales of GTF engines to PAL and to Cebu Pacific, that’s $1.5 billion worth of business to P&W. It’s in between purchasing the equipment itself and then maintenance plans that go along with the equipment,” Jones said.

P&W’s GTF engines are seen helping carriers drive more efficient and sustainable air travel, enabling airlines to open new routes and fly more people farther with less fuel and much lower noise.

The new technology behind the engine, which started entering into service in 2016, is expected to result to up to 20 percent reduction in fuel consumption, 75 percent reduction in noise footprint, and a 50 percent reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions.

“We’re taking care with a lot of issues with this new technology. With the Philippines’ focus on environment and sustainability, so by being able to offer a product that has that big environmental push to it, we see that as really supporting overarching national goals here. Having the right product at the right time is the best thing we can do to help support the Philippines and its aviation community,” Jones said.

Jones lauded PAL and Cebu Pacific for being among the leaders in the region when it comes to anticipating changes in the industry as well as catering to the needs of its customers.  

“We see fuel prices rising. That is giving some airlines some cost for concern. It also means that airlines such as PAL and Cebu Pacific were absolutely right in having the foresight a few years ago to place orders for these new technology equipment because now they are going to reduce their fuel consumption significantly,” she said.

“We see the Philippines as a very important place to be. We are very honored that PAL and Cebu Pacific have selected our technology for their new airplanes going forward,” Jones said.

P&W’s engine center in Singapore maintains a technical workforce of more than 700 employees, in which about 15 percent are from the Philippines.

“In Singapore we employ a number of Filipino workers. As we all know, the skilled workforce here is quite good. We welcome talented labor pool from the Philippines,” Jones said.

Jones, however, said the company has no plans of putting up facilities in the country at the moment as they are well-positioned in Singapore and also has a partner in Japan.