By Christian V. Esguerra, Paolo Montecillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
President Benigno Aquino III has stepped into the dispute between
Philippine Airlines (PAL) and 25 pilots who have moved to higher-paying jobs abroad, causing PAL flights to be delayed or canceled and passengers stranded.
The President announced Sunday that the PAL management would sit in a meeting Monday with Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and the secretaries of departments, such as transportation, labor and justice, to tackle the matter.
A separate meeting will be held with pilots who had left PAL to join bigger airlines, he said.
“The end point being to address the situation and to remind everybody—PAL, for instance—that they have obligations when they secured the franchise to operate this public conveyance,†Mr. Aquino said.
The President said “the pilots also have an obligation. This is being studied with pertinent laws.â€
He scolded both the management and the pilots over what he called “disruption†caused by the mass exodus of the latter in the past two weeks.
“There has been disruption to our tourism efforts and to other aspects of the economy that would need their services,†Mr. Aquino said. “If this is not (resolved), they (will) lay themselves open (to) appropriate charges.â€
PAL, Asia’s first airline, has rejected the resignation of 25 of its pilots.
Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=30912.0
