Senators on Wednesday, June 21 called for a tougher policy on air passengers rights to address the abuses, cancellations and delays in flights besetting travelers.
Sen. Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay (Senate PRIB Photo)
The call was raised during the Senate Committee on Tourism’s inquiry into the numerous passenger complaints about the services offered by airline companies, particularly budget carrier Cebu Pacific Air (CEB), flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), and Air Asia.
“This pressing public service issue calls for urgent effective solutions as it involves not only the air passengers' rights, but also the overall impact on the country's tourism and economy,” Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Service said during the public hearing on Wednesday, June 21.
“Price and value are two different things. Dapat maayos ang serbisyo kahit sa seat sale nabili ang ticket (The service should be good even if the ticket was bought in a seat sale),” Poe added.
Poe also noted that complaints of cancellations have also increased against Philippine Airlines (PAL), which were aggravated by the confusion due to the terminal reassignments.
“A canceled flight could mean opportunity loss – a missed workday, botched business deal, school exam, important family occasion, or even a chance to say goodbye to a loved one. Time waits for no one," she stressed.
Carmelo L. Arcilla, Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) executive director, however, explained that overbooking has been a global practice in the civil aviation industry, because it has been also perceived to be disadvantageous to airline companies if they overbook.
Arcilla explained that the Air Passenger Bill of Rights mandates carriers to shoulder the cost of the passengers’ needs when they are denied boarding the aircraft.
“The perception is that there is an effective counterweight in overbooking because in a sense, the compensation package for passengers once they overbook is already a deterrent for abuse,” Arcilla said.
Under Section 10.1 of the country’s Air Passenger Bill of Rights, he pointed out, any expense, consequence or inconvenience caused to passengers must be borne by the air carrier.
“It’s a disincentive for airlines to overbook because if they do, they would have to shoulder the expenses of the passengers, so they would still pay a lot of money,” Arcilla said.
Nevertheless, he said passengers are still given the right to refund, rebook or reroute their flights or store their payment to a travel fund.
But Sen. Nancy Binay, chairperson of the Senate tourism panel, lamented that the actual situation on the ground differs from what the Air Passenger Bill of Rights is supposed to achieve and eventually fosters passenger resentment.
“Dito sa APBR, napakaminimal nung kelangan gawin ng airline. Ang kailangan lang nila, rebook, refund, tapos bahala ka na sa buhay mo kung saan ka kakain at kung saan ka matutulog (In the APBR, airlines have minimal obligations. All they need to do is rebook, refund then you are on your own, it’s up to you where you want to eat or where you want to sleep),” Binay lamented.
“Bakit ang nangyayari ngayon hindi overbooking nga eh, parang ang modus ngayon, (what is happening right now is no longer overbooking, it seems that the modus now is) cancellation, with no explanation,” she pointed out.
Binay also lamented that the email notices sent to passengers whose flights are delayed or cancelled are rather “cold” and devoid of any explanation or apology on the part of the airline and only features links that one has to click to be redirected to another page.
Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa agreed with Binay saying the “computer-generated” flight cancellations are not being monitored by the CAB.
Dela Rosa told the CAB to look deeper into the practice of these airlines regarding offering bumped off passengers accommodation or food, because “bihira na lang yung nag-aanounce ng ganun (they seldom do that now).”
Sen. Rafafel “Raffy” Tulfo also scored the CAB for its failure to impose sanctions on the airlines’ abuses against passengers, as he scored them for constantly holding “meetings” with the companies.
Arcilla acknowledged this, but said the problem was trigged by the supply chain disruption which he described is a “novel incident.”
Asked by Binay if the CAB can compel these airlines to stop offering seat sale, since they cannot keep up with the demand, Arcilla said they came up with an agreement to “reduce the flights in an orderly fashion.’
“Hindi naman kasi pwedeng itigil lahat ng flight na ito dahil baka po magkaroon ng collapse ang ating services dahil critical po ang ating conneectivity (we cannot abruptly halt all flights because that could cause a collapse of our air services because flight connectivity is critical),” Arcilla pointed out.
To which Binay retorted: “But technically sir, there is already a collapse, and the riding public are the ones who are absorbing that kind of burden.”
Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, who experienced celebrating his birthday at the airport terminal after Cebu Pacific’s flight was delayed, urged the airlines to rectify the mounting complaints of their passengers.
Go said he has been an avid passenger of the budget carrier and many times the airline was on time.
“May pagkakataon nga ina-announce pa nila na ahead of time sila (There are times they would announce that they are ahead of time). ‘We are 20 minutes ahead of time, 30 minutes ahead of time.’.. For this I commend them," Go said.
"I am urging Cebu Pacific to acknowledge the impact of these incidents on the affected passengers, particularly OFWs and tourists who rely heavily on your services. They deserve your utmost sympathy and support," he said.
"I call upon the airline to take immediate action and rectify these issues to prevent further harm to their customers," he added.