Facts Don't Lie

Last Christmas



6 January  2015

The Claims of Cebu Pacific
  • Cause for Delay is airport congestion beyond airline control
  • Bad weather causing cancellation of flights
  • Space constraint at Terminal 3
  • Absent employees not our fault

The Evidence
Transport Department has called Cebu Pacific's line of reasoning to its passengers last christmas "appalling" and vows sanctions against the erring airline likely.

Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya made the claims citing preliminary investigation report from the investigating panel composed of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB), the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA.

Abaya said the penalties which could be imposed on the airline range from fines and suspension, to a revocation of its franchise.

Juan Lorenzo Tañada, vice president for corporate affairs of Cebu Pacific said on December 25 that a bad mix of air traffic congestion and inclement weather during the holiday rush triggered chaos at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3.

Tañada said that apart from the high number of passengers heading to the provinces for Christmas, the airline had to adjust flight schedules due to the cancellation of several flights because of bad weather.

Airport Operator Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) disputes Cebu Pacific (CEB) claims stating the problem is not the airport but the airline particularly not taking off and arriving at their designated time.

Airport Manager Angel Honrado did not accept Cebu Pacific’s excuse, noting that 70 percent of the canceled and delayed flights from December 24 to 26 involved its planes.

“If the problem was air traffic congestion, how come it was just them that experienced it?” Honrado exclaimed.

Investigations disclosed that on the early morning of December 24 alone, six CEB flights already arrived late when there was no traffic at the airport. Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines (PAL) has managed to flew all its plane on schedule, and registered delays only during peak hours.

Philippine Airlines and AirAsia which also operates domestic flights had smooth operations during the holiday season despite large influx of passengers.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) on its part was alarmed by the “massive dislocation of passengers” never seen in the past. Passengers hoping to fly out of Manila were not processed on time and many missed their flights due to unmanned Cebu Pacific counters.

CAB Executive Director Carmilo Arcila said passengers were at the airport because they were promised by the airline to be flown on that day yet was not able to catch flight home.

Many passengers came to the airport 6-12 hours in advance and stood in long queues for more than three hours only to be told that they could not board their planes.

Arcila said that is totally unacceptable airline behavior.

The airline blamed the massive cueing at the terminal due to the movement of five international airlines to Terminal 3 limiting the number of counters Cebu Pacific could use.

Complaining passengers however said that even if all the counters were given to them there will still be massive cues because there were only few counters manned by Cebu Pacific personnels.

One passenger remarked in the report that while Cebu Pacific counters were chaotic, none was observed in the counters assigned for PAL Express.



CAB personnel reported on December 25 that there were only two check-in counters of Cebu Pacific that were opened until the airline was told by MIAA to open more counters raising its number to 32 by noon time. But delay and another round of cancellations was already spiralling on that day.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAAP) also dismisses weather claims of the airline as only three airports were affected and closed by the agency due to bad weather.

CAAP said that other domestic airlines were able to service the airport before it was closed and immediately after the airport was re-opened but Cebu Pacific cancelled its flight There.

The report also said that had Cebu Pacific flew their flights on time, they could have avoided airport closures.

The report said that flight cancellations due to force majeure is proper only when the airport is closed by aviation authorities due to bad weather, and not those declared by airline to be so.

CAAP also said there were no complaints of over-booking over at PAL and AirAsia which was the reason of swelling of CEB passengers at terminal 3.

According to the Air Passenger Bill of Rights, passengers have the right to accurate information, right to receive the full value of the service purchased, and right to compensation. In this cases however none was provided by Cebu Pacific for delays and cancellations other than rebooking and waiving fees to it.

25 comments:

  1. Even if CEB was allowed to overbook they should have thought that all passengers would show up. It was Christmas what was CEB thinking! The other airlines most probably did not overbook on these days. Boils down to one thing - GREED! Well done CEB!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Cebu Pacific blames the weather, air traffic, the airport space even their employees. But they never took the blame. There's no ownership. Grow some balls and compensate your passengers the right way!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ceb Pac swallowed what it cannot chew too ambitious now its the right time to teach them a lesson.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Incompetent in all aspects.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Its about time to expose Ceb Pac. Majority of its employees are contractuals that is why they dont care if they report for work during the holidays.They treat their customers like cattle for the reason that what they pay is a bargain.
    Same thing with the way they deal with other entities. Maintenance provider Lufthansa Technik Philippines opted to early terminate its ATR-72 line maintenance agreement with Ceb Pac. To minimize flight delays, LTP mechanics rectify defects on aircraft scheduled for flight without waiting for the Ceb Pac Rep approval who is nowhere to be found.The additional charges accumulated to more than 1.5M USD, and when billed they have a thousand reasons not to pay, hence the LTP German CEO terminated the agreement and just continue to deal with reputable legacy carriers like QANTAS,Virgin Atlantic, Philippine Airlines, Air Asia, Asiana, Lufthansa Airlines, Jetstar, Air France, Starflyer of Japan.
    DHL Global also terminated its forwarding services because they were badmouthed for a justifiable delay in their incoming aircraft part shipment urgently required.
    Rank & file employees are rude and tackless which is part of their corporate culture.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where's your proof? This sounds like typical Pinoy chismis/hearsay...

      Delete
    2. It is true that majority of people working for Cebu Pacific are outsourced, meaning not employed directly by Cebu Pacific but working for a contractor having manpower contract services with Cebu Pacific. And they happen to be the same people you meet at the check-in counter, to the pre-departure lobby. They also comprise those people that bring you and your bag from the terminal to the aircraft and back to terminal upon arrival.

      So who are the employees of Cebu Pacific that you see? Only the pilots and the cabin crews.

      It is also true that LTP was once the maintenance provider of 5J, and it is also true that they decline further services to Cebu Pacific. DHL was once 5J partner in freight forwarding but their contract was rescinded by DHL. Those are established facts.

      Delete
    3. "It is also true that LTP was once the maintenance provider of 5J, and it is also true that they decline further services to Cebu Pacific. DHL was once 5J partner in freight forwarding but their contract was rescinded by DHL. Those are established facts."

      Yes those are facts, no doubt about it. But the reasons why these partnerships were terminated, as written by 4:29PM above, sounds to me like innuendos and hearsays... like 5J "bad-mouthing" DHL... Wouldn't they have been sued for libel rather than just ending the contract? And if 5J was difficult to work with for LHT, why did SIA Engineering, an equally respected MRO worldwide, establish a partnership with 5J now?

      Delete
    4. Because 5J offered $166 million contract to SIA for fleet maintenance just so it can establish MRO facility at Clark and be its foreign partner.

      Delete
    5. And so? It still does not prove your claim regarding the reason 5J & LTP ended their relationship.

      Delete
    6. Please read our post again, we never claim anything other than what was stated. We are merely reiterating Facts and answering your question about SIAEC. But we're glad that you read our post.

      Delete
    7. Again... no proof of your claims in any of those posts. If you quoted a DHL and LTP executive why they terminated their partnerships with 5J, then your claim would be believable. Until then, those posts are just baseless claims or even innuendos.

      Delete
    8. Gerald Frielinghaus and Richard Lynch of LTP. Virginia Jamila and Nikki Andres of DHL

      Delete
    9. Sure... Where are the quotes in official publications though? Can you cite references? Because I can also say that Lance says otherwise...

      Delete
    10. Stop arguing with me, I worked for LTP for 14 years.

      Delete
    11. And so? Unless you are top management who is privy to behind the scene negotiations, you know jack shit. And I doubt you are top management... because these people are too busy making executive decisions to post in amateur websites/blogs like this!

      Delete
    12. And probably you knew jack shit too.That makes the two of you tango. At least the other one has identified himself working for something while you probably warm your arse reading amateur blogs for shitty crap and then rant hiding the veil of anonymity. How amateurishly convenient. Clearly this blog is not for you. Go fuck yourself elsewhere. Maybe you'll get the loads of crap there.

      Delete
    13. Funny how one gets a dose of his own medicine.

      Delete
  6. Does that imply that Cebu Pacific Air will go out of business if it cancelled and delayed its flights for unconvincing reasons?

    ReplyDelete
  7. Is Cebu Pacific Air now worth travelling with since its flight punctuality is less than 80%?

    ReplyDelete
  8. These are mere data.. Facts are yet to come out..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Report is already out and they are duly established facts. Sadly, a P5,000.00 unconscionable penalty per delay and cancellation does not really warrant newsworthy attention. The good news there is that another strike at this magnitude will already warrant Cebu Pacific suspension from 15 days to 30 days. Now that is awfully a lot of money to be lost. A million peso conscionable fine for every delay or cancellation is being heard and work out in Congress amending the antiquated CAB Law.

      Delete
  9. I think the reason why 5J is such a shitty airline is because it is owned & run by a Filipino-Chinese! Yes, I know that sounded racist, but let me explain by merely stating the obvious. Big business in the Philippines is dominated by the Filipino-Chinese, so-called tycoons, yet none of these businesses can lay claim to superb quality & service. Let's take a look at real estate for example. Not one single real estate development company owned by a Filipino-Chinese can proudly boast a reputation of first-class quality & service. Megaworld, SMDC, Robinsons (another Gokongwei corp), etc, etc… all SUCK big time, from construction quality to post-handover maintenance & support. If you want high quality in this sector, you go for Ayala or Rockwell - the top two developers in the country, both not owned by Filipino-Chinese. But that's not to say that other non-Fil-Chi developers are great either (Villar's company as an example, or in another industry - Globe Telecom, an Ayala company), but we can't escape the fact that Filipino-Chinese businesses cannot deliver a quality product or service. Even PAL, another tycoon-owned entity, which although marginally better than 5J, is still one of the shittiest full-service airlines in the world. What about the malls? SM & Robinsons are not quality malls. Again, Rockwell and Ayala are tops here.

    I thought Lance would be better than the other tycoons. After all, he's armed with an Ivy-league degree, and cum laude no less. But I suppose it's the Chinese DNA that's got the better of him. Perhaps the same reason why the "Made in China" label has such a shitty reputation worldwide.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quantity over quality mentality !

      Delete