We invented ‘The Last Class’

They must have learned it from us!

Yes, the Philippines is apparently way ahead of the aviation industry in terms of making profits and getting away with “crime.” I recently heard and read news items referring to how major US airlines are now adopting business models that will help them compete with “budget airlines” in the United States.

The controversial business model that makes passengers feel like “second class citizens” on board is called “Last Class.” It’s a no frills, bare bones flight that is lower or cheaper than Economy Class that does not allow refunds, no upgrades if you regret buying “Last Class,” and no seat assignments. You sit where they place you as long as it is a “seat” and you have to buy food as you fly.

So what’s the big deal? Precisely my point, what they call “Last Class” in the United States is actually Economy class in the Philippines. We never realized how the airline executives down graded, cut back and turned true economy into Budget Economy in name but “Last Class” in actuality.

People who buy economy tickets refer to it as “Cattle class”, where you are jam packed from the time you book your flight knowing the airlines have a 10 to 15 percent overbooking rate especially at peak times of the year. Then they put to shame the US Drug Enforcement Agency and Homeland Security as they profile you and your suitcase as the person with the highest potential of bringing an overweight hand carry and take you down for being half a kilo overweight!

If you want to experience a life-changing journey, do take the cattle class flight because after getting your bags weighed at the check in counter, and reweighed and visually measured at final inspection, they send you off to pre-departure at NAIA 1 and 2 or to the cattle pens at NAIA 3 terminal. If you must be a cow, don’t enter the pen until they call you to board or you will soon smell and act like one due to extensive delays.

If there is a silver lining to such a curse then it would be learning three things in “Cattle class”: you will learn patience, it will challenge your creativity, and you will learn to be better prepared the next time.

Here is an actual testimony texted to me by a well-known musician about an attempted visit to the last Philippine frontier:

“How to ruin an RP vacation to Palawan: Book Cebu Pacific on the 3pm flight, get delayed, get more delayed, resume your flight, turn back mid-way because the Palawan airport doesn’t have runway lights, shuttle everyone to an airport hotel and resked for new reservations, have a problem with the return skeds, and catch ur flight to LA the next day. Lousy country’s governance.”

Many friends learned patience, they learned to be in good terms with their travel agent, hotel contact, or host after realizing that the multiple delays on “Cattle class” actually ate up an entire day that resulted in them losing one day at their hotel or resort (multiplied by the number of people they were traveling with). The experience also taught them to be a “What if thinker” because if the flight can be delayed 3 times, there is also a possibility that the flight going back could also be delayed or cancelled!

Mischievously, some friends smiled knowing that the rich folks in “Business Class” were probably cursing and threatening the airlines while screaming “this is no way to run a business!” Pity the poor people. They paid 3 times the fare just to have 6 inches of space between their knees and the passenger in front of them. I don’t know the exact price but I think that the meal they got served in a tray with linen and real utensils cost them between P750 to P1,500 but was worth P250?

The one’s I really pity are the elderly and sickly who have to pay full fare on “Business Class” because of their physical or medical conditions. This also means that a caregiver has to sit nearby or buy a Business Class seat as well. Perhaps our lawmakers should consider entering a new provision to the Senior Citizens law that provides a “must ride – 50% discount” rule on airlines for certified patients and impaired passengers in business class so that they can be treated more humanely than the healthier cattle in the “Last Class.”

This is not at all impossible or unpopular because if Congress could write and un-write a law placing duties or taxes on foreign carriers, they should be able to introduce laws that correct the inhumane conduct of business in “Cattle Class”, not to mention that the airlines have all been bragging about being highly profitable in 2015!

Ironically, the “Last Class” is an idea to combat extreme competition. But in the Philippines, there is no competition. They merely create a semblance of it to avoid critics from pointing out the obvious!  Consider the fact that Tokyo is 2,994 kilometers from Manila and cost to fly “Cattle Class” is P20,000+/-. The flight to Batanes is P19,000 / 657 kilometers. Davao City is approximately 978 kilometers and costs P10,070 high, while Cebu is 571 Km away at a high of P7,900. So the airlines just like pick-up taxi companies charge what they want to with no rhyme or reason.

We Filipinos have long been subjected to the “Last Class” model by the “major airlines” in the Philippines thanks to the nod and support of government officials who are suppose to be pro consumer but are actually in bed with airline companies because they don’t have the funds, the political strength, nor the balls to do their jobs especially since it is the airlines that give accommodations or extend “courtesies” when they travel abroad. Just take a cut from the travel tax or airport tax and give it to aviation authorities instead of letting the airlines take their pound of flesh every time a Filipino flies!

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