Code Share equivalent to use of entitlements

No more entitlements to UAE, new bilateral's necessary

By Lenie Lectura
BusinessMirror

March 20, 2012

Seeking for additional flight entitlements to the Middle East could resolve a complaint filed by Cebu Pacific against the Philippine Airlines (PAL) before the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

“We are having air talks with United Arab Emirates this year so the issue may be overtaken by this,” said CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla. He did not say when the negotiations would take place.

Cebu Pacific wants the government to recall some of Philippine Airlines’ (PAL) flight entitlements to the Middle East after the flag carrier stopped its direct flights.

The Gokongwei-owned Cebu Pacific asked the CAB to recall half of the 14 flight entitlements awarded to PAL to fly to United Arab Emirates (UAE). Cebu Pacific is also eyeing for PAL’s Saudi Arabia entitlements.

Cebu Pacific said that since PAL is no longer mounting direct flights in the Middle East countries, the CAB might as well reallocate these to airlines in need of entitlements.

But PAL, said its President Jaime Bautista, flies to those destinations via a code-share agreement with foreign airlines.

“We can fly there if we want. However, we thought at this time that it’s better to code share with others. I think they [CAB] can’t take it away because of the code share agreement we have,” the PAL official said when sought for comment.

PAL flies 14 times a week to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, eight times a week to Bahrain, and seven times a week to Doha, Qatar.

The carrier stopped its direct flights to UAE in 1998. PAL also canceled its Manila-Riyadh route in March 2011.

The CAB said it would be difficult to comment on Cebu Pacific’s complaint now, citing a contract inked with PAL and with a foreign airline.

“When you say that it’s not being used it is complicated because it’s under code share and a subject matter involving a contract between two private entities. If it’s really not being used then we can take it away as we have done before [with] other complaints. But if it’s under code share then that is another question. It is not that easy when something is a subject matter of a contract,” commented Arcilla.

Cebu Pacific announced plans to launch long-haul operations in the third quarter of 2013. Among the destinations being considered are parts of Europe, Middle East, Australia and the United States.

FAA Report raises more questions than answers

Check Pilots should not ride planes for free!

March 19, 2012

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) Report given to Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) Secretary Mar Roxas raises more questions than answers to the recently concluded Pre-Assessment Audit on International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)'s Standards and Recommended Practices (SARP) reviewed by US FAA inspectors on Jan. 23 to 27, 2012.

Sec. Roxas refused to comment when pressed with the issue but confirmed the gaping hole in the aviation transport industry and the incompetence of some regulation officials to address the problem.

Sec Roxas said results of the FAA’s recent technical assessment showed the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines’ (CAAP) failure to address deficiencies.

The report stated that the level of compliance on critical aviation safety issues is left much to be desired. For example, the FAA auditors questioned the practice of CAAP inspectors in taking free rides on airlines while conducting audit, which it said is clearly a conflict of interest.

The qualifications and training of CAAP’s inspectors and other critical technical personnel is also flawed and needs to be revamped, as most of them clearly possess no concrete experience to the required job description. CAAP rehired its employees even if they are not clearly qualified for the job.

According to printed news report, the FAA said that in one check they conducted on the aircraft worthiness audit capabilities of CAAP personnel, they noted that the inspectors were issuing rating and limitations on a CAAP-approved aircraft maintenance organization (AMO), despite having no training on the aircraft worthiness check.

FAA also laments the lack of system to evaluate the quality of training the agency are getting for their personnel, such as the pilot skill tests and aircraft worthiness checks casting doubt on the qualifications of these inspectors, and the absence of a computerized records keeping system, such as a Civil Aviation Safety Reporting and Tracking System (CASORT) which has time and again been suggested to the government to install since 2009.

The reason why it isn't installed by CAAP baffles the auditors.

“A review of these records revealed record keeping errors that caused confusion, and a lack of hard copies made the records incomplete,” the FAA report said.

“The records provided were confusing in that they did not clearly differentiate between training provided by the CAAP and training provided by sources prior to employment by CAAP. Without hard-copy records, the CASORT system data alone would have given the false impression that inspectors were not qualified,” it said.

The FAA report also found numerous wording errors in the CAAP's version of Philippine Civil Aviation Regulations (PCAR) which needs to be rectified the soonest.

Roxas said that prior to his assumption as DOTC Secretary, the CAAP had made a promise to President Aquino himself that the country would be able to regain its category 1 status with the FAA within a year which they subsequently failed.

CAAP Director General Ramon S. Gutierrez said Monday that they are addressing the technical issues seriously. Gutierrez said they would go to Washington in April this year to lobby the US government for a corrective action plan and clarification from the FAA.

Gutierrez laments that while CAAP had addressed the original 88 “significant safety concerns,” the FAA team added 20 more items for remedial corrections.

"That's why were clarifying some issues with them" says Gutirrez.

Gutierrez said that one of the new issues raised by FAA is not technical but political in nature which can be only solve by the Philippine Congress.

It said that while a Philippine-registered airplanes can operate freely in the US, the US-registered aircraft cannot be allowed to operate in the country.

But Gutierrez is not buying the idea and will challenge the issue raised by FAA in Washington. 

Philippine Airlines Philippine-registered planes has been barred from flying in the United States because of category 2 status.

Aviatour Cessna Crash in Camiguin

Clips coconut tree on approach!

March 5, 2012


A 37-year-old Norwegian woman and a Filipino pilot died after their Cessna 172S Skyhawk SP plane (RPC209), crashed seconds before it landed at the Camiguin airport in Mambajao town around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. Three other passengers survived the crash.

The fatalities were identified as Christian Cesar Cebracus and Racquel Strande. The others were identified as Indonesian co-pilot Nurmala Dewi, the woman's husband Lance Strande, and their 3-year-old child Jensola.

The plane owned by Cebu-based charter company Aviatours departed from Mactan airport at 7:30 a.m bound for Camiguin for sight-seeing tour before it clip a coconut tree on approach to Mambajao airport.