Clipped wings

The sudden resignation of several PAL captains and first officers has thrown the national flag carrier into a tail spin. Cancellations due to the unavailability of pilots were done on practically a daily basis, to the ire of passengers who had to contend with hours of delay or even rescheduling.

The resignations stem from issues regarding salaries, or the lack of a competitive one. Foreign airlines apparently pay a whole lot more, as confirmed even by PAL. They simply cannot match the wages of the likes of Lufthansa, KLM, British Airways or even Korean Airlines! Hence the exodus, albeit sudden.

An airline has always been thought of as a losing business. Rising fuel costs, a slow economy, and rising fares have decreased passenger patronage over the years. Airlines had to be creative marketing-wise in order to lure passengers into flying.

PAL used to lord it over the skies of the Philippines, which it had been doing since its birth in 1941 as Asia's first airline. Quite a feat, actually. But the entrance of several players such as Cebu Pacific have significantly lowered its market share of the industry.

PAL has been privatized for quite some time, although the government still sees it as the national flag carrier. Therefore, it feels that PAL still has an obligation to the people, in that it should serve the people well. And indeed it does.

The current troubles of PAL have inconvenienced a lot of passengers, and it may continue to cancel flights or scrap certain routes permanently to reconfigure their flight operations so as not to inconvenience passengers any further.

Some say that tourism may be affected because of the problems. Something I'm sure the President does not want to happen on his watch.

The current problems of PAL have to be resolved, and as soon as possible. It should not be allowed to go the way of most airlines in today's global economy. The pilots may not be blamed for wanting a better life vis-à-vis higher pay.

Perhaps a balance can be achieved where everybody wins, more importantly, the flying public. It would be a shame to see Asia's first airline clipped of its wings, only because of disagreements between management and its employees.