EDITORIAL - Grounded

Dogs and goats used to stray into Philippine airport runways, and the lack of night landing equipment limited many gateways to daytime operations.

Today runways are off-limits to animals, but certain airports continue to lack night landing capability. And lightning can halt operations at the country’s main gateway, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, where the electricity network seems to have acquired the bad habit of conking out during peak travel periods.

Now, on top of interminable waiting in line in weak air conditioning to clear immigration at the NAIA, travelers must also contend with sudden flight cancellations on the two principal local carriers. Affected travelers have been complaining about the problem long enough for the Senate to conduct an investigation.

Yesterday, flag carrier Philippine Airlines canceled eight international flights from Manila, explaining that several of its aircraft were grounded. PAL said the affected passengers were rerouted, rebooked or given a refund. The air tickets can also be converted into travel vouchers. In an earlier statement, PAL explained that the cancellations were “primarily due to the increase in the number of aircraft on preventive maintenance as a result of high utilization brought about by revenge travel or high travel demand.”

Low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific has also been hit by the same problem. It has apologized to the public and attributed it to a global aviation problem arising from defective engines provided by US aircraft engine maker Pratt & Whitney. CEB noted that all over the world, more than 120 Airbus planes are currently grounded because of the lack of spare parts maintenance support from Pratt & Whitney. The company notified CEB last March that it could no longer provide the spare engine support.

Even if other entities are to blame, airlines will have to deal with complaints about overbooking and sudden flight cancellations. Such disruptions can be excused if there is a weather disturbance or volcanic eruption. But if the problem has been building up over several weeks and even months, surely it is possible to reduce the inconvenience to passengers.

Canceled flights disrupt the schedules of other flights, and can lead to fines for failure to show up for a hotel reservation. Pre-booked and pre-paid land transport fees are rarely refunded. Meeting commitments are upended. And it’s not easy to rebook a flight. Travelers deserve better service – both from airlines and the airport.