Philippine Airlines (PAL) has an issued a statement assuring travellers that operations have remained “unaffected” by a notice of a strike filed by its ground staff yesterday with the country’s labour department.
The statement read: “All domestic and international flights are being operated according to published departure and arrival times. All PAL offices and facilities in the Philippines and overseas remain open to serve customers. And all accredited travel agents continue to sell and honor PAL tickets. PAL remains steadfast to its mandate of serving the flying public.”
PAL Employees Association, which makes up more than half of the carrier’s 7,500 workforce, consists of crew in areas such as ground handling, maintenance and cargo operations.
The dispute was triggered by PAL’s announcement last year that it would cut staff and realign operations after reporting a US$301.4 million loss in the past fiscal year due to rising fuel costs.
At press time, PAL executives and PALEA remained in meetings to avert the industrial action.
PAL emphasised its websites www.philippineairlines.com and www.mabuhaymiles.com were available 24 hours to accept online bookings and enquiries as well as promotions and news updates.
Margie T Logarta
