Budget carrier Cebu Pacific Air is exerting all efforts to address passenger complaints regarding overbooking and unexplained flight cancellations, officials of the airline assured senators during a hearing on Wednesday, June 21. Sen. Nancy Binay presides over the public hearing of the Senate Committee on Tourism on the numerous passenger complaints about the services offered by Cebu Pacific and other air travel companies, on Wednesday, June 21, 2023. (Senate PRIB Photo)


Alexander Lao, Cebu Pacific President and Chief Commercial Officer, made the assurance as they faced the Senate Committee on Tourism's scrutiny over its alleged failure to answer passenger complaints regarding sudden cancellation of flights and other booking glitches. “We are always guided by the Air Passenger Bill of Rights, and have adhered to the prescribed policies and rules, especially on matters that affect our customers and passengers,” Lao told the panel, headed by Sen. Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay during the hearing. “We remain committed to our mission of providing safe, reliable and affordable air transportation,” he said. Lao explained that Cebu Pacific, as well as other carriers worldwide, have been impacted by the latest challenges hounding the global aviation industry. “Specifically, the global aviation industry has been impacted by Pratt and Whitney engine issues, which power Airbus A321/A320 NEO aircraft. The PW engines are experiencing premature removal from service and each engine restoration requires 220 days instead of the industry norm of 90 days,” Lao said. He said this premature servicing forced some of their vehicles to be under maintenance for a month instead of one day. “More than 120 aircraft worldwide are currently grounded due to this issue,” Lao said, adding that they had already encountered 12 impromptu engine removals this year and were forced to ground three Airbus A321/A320 NEOs indefinitely since the middle of March. Prior to this, Lao said Cebu Pacific was optimistic about its ability to fully restore services in support of the country’s post Covid-19 pandemic economic recovery.  Cebu Pacific, he said, was able to acquire new planes as well as obtain operational upgrades in January 2023 and saw a credible performance in the first quarter of the year. “However, as early as March, we began to feel the industry challenges and its effect from April onwards,” he said. Aside from PW engine issues, Lao also disclosed Cebu Pacific also encountered delays from Airbus, “our aircraft manufacturer.” “We recognize that global supply chain issues are further worsening the situation and causing additional delays in aircraft deliveries. As a result, we have experienced delays ranging from 2 to 5 months for our scheduled deliveries in 2023,” he said. “These delivery delays necessitate changes to our flight schedules, including flight cancellations and equipment changes from larger to smaller aircraft which may cause some passengers to be disrupted and cause the perception of overbooking,” he pointed out. “Rather than cancelling the flight, the use of smaller aircraft allows us to still bring as many customers as possible to their destination and lessen the number of disrupted passengers,” he stressed. Cebu Pacific also has to contend with extended recovery periods for “Aircraft on Ground (AOG),” referring to aircraft that are grounded and which requires additional time for restoration. “These aircraft must remain grounded until they are deemed airworthy and compliant with safety standards. All of these impact the number of aircraft available to fly our planned schedule,” he said. On top of this, he said, Red Lightning Alerts (RLA) have become more prevalent and are longer in duration during this year. Cebu Pacific have had 78 RLAs from April to June, affecting 535 flights. Some of these RLAs take up to two and half to three hours, which require stoppage of operations. “These are the realities that frame Cebu Pacific’s current operations, and we are taking all possible steps to address the issues that are global in impact, such as reducing flight schedules, acquiring additional aircraft for greater resilience and enhancing our customer care and recovery policy,” he said. “We express our sincerest apologies to our passengers for the disruptions and assure you that we are committed to resolving these challenges. We value the trust and confidence of our passengers and are committed to providing safe, affordable and reliable flights. Naiintindihan namin na responsibilidad pa rin namin ito -bilang serbisyo publiko (We understand that it is still our responsibility to address this as part of our public service),” Lao said.