RP to oppose US proposal for open skies

The Philippines will oppose a US proposal to allow unrestricted aviation access into each other’s markets, a foreign affairs official said Monday.

US charge d’affairs Michael Malinowski had written a letter to Manila informing it that a US team was to arrive here to discuss an open skies policy with local aviation officials.

"The purpose of the visit would be to discuss both bilateral and multilateral options for establishing an open skies relationship between our two countries, and to answer any questions that Philippine authorities may have about open skies," Malinowski had said in his letter to the transportation department.

The proposal would remove restrictions on routes, capacities, flight frequencies and fare pricing, department officials said.

But such an arrangement "will spell the death of our airlines," said the foreign office official who did not want to be named.

"They will gobble up our airlines," the official said. "We cannot agree at this point to grant them open skies."

The official said the US government could not insist that the open skies policy would lead to more American tourists visiting the Philippines. He noted that the two US airlines flying to Manila were only using half of their allowable capacity.

While the Philippine Airlines would also be granted unrestricted access to the US under the proposal, the national flag carrier with its fleet of 30 aircraft would not be able to compete with major US air carriers.

"If our airlines cannot compete anymore and close down, then they (American carriers) will have the monopoly of our air industry," the official warned.

Meanwhile, all 1,400 fight attendants and stewards of Philippine Airlines (PAL) will get higher salaries totaling P250 million under a new four-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between PAL management and the Flight Attendants and Stewards Association of the Philippines (FASAP).

Labor and Employment Secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said FASAP and PAL management forged their new CBA two weeks ago.

The CBA took effect last July 12 and will expire on July 12, 2005, she added

Under the CBA, the 100 flight pursers will receive a monthly salary of P46,000; the 1,000 international cabin attendants, P26,000; and the 300 domestic cabin attendants, P17,000 a month.

Flight pursers are senior flight attendants and stewards, who supervise the work of their junior colleagues when they are airborne. – Mayen Jaymalin