12 December 2022
Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has bumped off number of passengers after it began downgrading service between Cotabato-Sanga Sanga flight in Tawi-Tawi from jet to turboprop plane, it was learned.
PAL has downgraded PR2487/88 from 180 seater Airbus A320 to 76 seater Bombardier DHC-8-400 (Q-400) beginning December 1.
“I queued ahead of many of them but they were the ones who were processed first for boarding,” said Nurosalam Caladtiag, one of the passengers who were denied boarding last Thursday.
The airline operates twice a week service from Cotabato to Tawi-Tawi and vice versa every Monday and Thursday.
“It was unfair for solo travelers who lined up first only to be left behind,” he added.
Another passenger remarked that PAL knew the airline to be overbooked after it began calling for volunteers not to fly that day.
“They knew they overbooked because they spoke through the PA system four or five times saying that the flight is overbooked and that they were looking for volunteers to give up their seats,” Dr. Jose Jowel Canuday, Chair of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology of the Ateneo de Manila University said.
A ground personnel of the airline who wants her name withheld disclosed that this was not the first time that passengers were denied boarding since PAL downgraded flight services to Cotabato, as it declined twelve others in the first day and twenty others last Monday, and nine Thursday.
Affected passengers were rerouted to Zamboanga, or were given priority boarding on the next available flights the next week.
PAL personnel at Sanga Sanga Airport laments that even that arrangement is questionable as succeeding flights are also overbooked, as none of all the passengers contacted after the service downgrade, manifested intent to reschedule their flights.
“We are contacting all of them, none has rescheduled their flight or accepted flight diversion to Zamboanga. They are not also accepting refund as they want to travel on that date.” she adds.
PAL said it intends to add a third flight next year between Cebu and Cotabato and Tawi-Tawi, to address the growing traffic between the BARMM region.
