Wingtip kisses at NAIA

As Qatar and Delta scrape its others wing

By Anjo Perez
September 21, 2011

MANILA, Philippines -- The left wingtip of a Qatar Airways plane scraped the right wingtip of a Delta Air aircraft while pushing back out of the terminal at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport a little past midnight Wednesday (12:40am), causing delays to both flights.

Officials from the airport’s Media Affairs Division (MAD) revealed that the tug operator pushing back the Qatar Air Airbus Industrie A330 wide-body jet miscalculated the distance between the Delta Airlines Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet parked to its side resulting in the wingtips to touch one another.

The Qatar Airways aircraft, which was parked at Bay 14 of the NAIA, was pushing back for departure at 12:40 am when the plane’s left winglet scraped the six-foot high right winglet of the B747-400 jet.

The contact resulted in minor scratches to both wingtips that forced the pilot of the Qatar flight to return to the terminal. For safety reasons, the pilot had the passengers disembark from the aircraft while maintenance crew checked on the involved part and make sure its airworthiness.

After an extensive check of the aircraft, the plane was given the go ahead signal by the maintenance crew to continue with its flight was able to take off from the NAIA at 5:01am Wednesday.

Aero Majestic makes Zamboanga Hub

Flies Cagayan de Oro and Dipolog

 
September 21, 2011

Manila based charter company Aero Majestic Airways is setting up hub in Zamboanga City as it makes maiden scheduled charter flights to Cagayan de Oro and Dipolog City from Zamboanga International Airport in September 19, 2011. 

"The maiden flight yesterday (Sept 19) had 45 passengers on a one hour flight which otherwise would have take 12 hours to reach Cagayan de Oro" said Jean Saludares, Airline President, Capt. Raheel Shaikh, Aero Majestic Airways Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, said that flights to Cagayan de Oro will be on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and Zamboanga to Dipolog flights will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays to start on September 27. 

The airline utilizes a 64 seater NAMC YS 11 turbo prop plane made by a Japanese consortium Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation, and will be piloted by Capt. Maximo Vallejo. Saludares said the airline is promoting the route with a promo fare of P999 for both routes. Land trip by bus to Cagayan de Oro for a 12 hour ride cost 820 pesos while that to Dipolog is close to 500 pesos. 

Aero Majestic Airways, Inc., is founded in February 2010 specializing in chartered airline business.It has 64 brand new aircrafts and helicopters that are available for charter to all airports in the country and neighboring countries, whether for a one-time charter for a special event, or long term arrangements and leasing as well as aircraft management.

PAL passenger gives birth in-flight

September 20, 2011

A Philippine Airlines (PAL) passenger gave birth to a healthy baby boy while on board PAL’s B747 flight en route to San Francisco from Manila on Monday, Sept. 19. 

Aida Alamillo, a passenger of PAL PR flight 104, seat number 83J, gave birth with the assistance of three nurses on board and several cabin crew led by Flight Steward Francis Lloyd Lobo.

Alamillo, who delivered pre-term at 35 weeks, was aided in doing deep-breathing and relaxation exercises, as a prelude to the birth of her child.

The baby boy was described by flight purser Antonia Castaneda in her Flight Incident Report (FIR) as having “good skin color”. She wrote that “baby started to breast feed”, and gave a “loud cry” upon getting out of his mother’s womb.

The mother was described to have had “minimal pain”. An ambulance and a team of paramedics were alerted prior to the plane’s landing. Mother and child were assisted by the PAL Cabin Crew team, the PAL staff from San Francisco station and the medical team upon arrival in the city. Mother and child were brought to the Mills Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame.

Passengers cheered as the baby boy filled the cabin with his cries.  The incident is considered a rarity. PAL’s cabin crew, all considered “safety professionals”, are trained in handling child-birth situations in flight.

The PAL flight departed Manila at 10:24 p.m. and arrived in San Francisco 7:27 p.m. Actual time of birth was at 3: 25 p.m. (US time). PDI

PLDT Airline readies for Take-off

Pacific Global One is Born


By Krista Angela M. Montealegre
Manila Times

September 17, 2011

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co.  (PLDT) has obtained regulatory approval to form an airline company, fueling speculation that the group of Manuel Pangilinan may invest in the country’s flag carrier.

Documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that PLDT received regulatory approval on Thursday to incorporate Pacific Global One Aviation Co. Inc., which has an authorized capital stock of P430 million composed of common and preferred shares worth P400 million and P30 million, respectively.

The primary purpose of the new company is “to carry on, by means of aircraft of every kind or description, the general business of common and/or private carrier, air taxi or character engaged in the transportation for itself and for others, of passengers, mail, merchandise, and freight, and in this connection, to acquire, purchase, lease, construct, own, maintain, operate and dispose of aircraft of every kind and description, for scheduled and non-scheduled flights, for domestic and foreign travel , and also to own, purchase, construct, lease, operate and dispose of hangars, transportation depots, lounge facilities, aircraft service stations and agencies and other objects and services of similar nature which may be necessary, convenient or useful as an auxiliary to aircraft transportation, including the service and repair of aircraft, ground handling, and buying, selling and generally dealing in oils, gasoline, fuel, aircraft accessories and equipment and goods, wares and relate merchandise of every name and description.”

The Philippines’ biggest telecom company subscribed to P155 million payable through cash and property assets consisting of two aircrafts, while Philex Mining Corp., Jubilee Sky Ltd., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Meralco Powergen Corp. and Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. subscribed to P125-million worth of shares.

Pangilinan chairs PLDT, Philex, MPIC, Manila Electric Co. and MPTC.

PLDT is the country’s biggest telecom company, while Philex is the largest mining firm. MPIC controls the country’s biggest water distributor, while Meralco is the largest electricity retailer. MPTC controls two of the country’s main tollways, the North Luzon Expressway and Subic Clark Tarlac Expressway.

Incorporators of Pacific Global were PLDT President and Chief Executive Napoleon Nazareno, Meralco Chief Operating Officer Oscar Reyes, MPIC President and Chief Executive Jose Ma. Lim, MPTC President and Chief Executive Ramoncito Fernandez, Joseph Ladrido, former Bureau of Internal Revenue Chief Rene Bañez, Christopher Young, Robert Nicholson and Richard Lawrence Beacher.

When asked if he was interested in Philippine Airlines, Pangilinan told reporters on the sidelines of the listing ceremony of Philex Petroleum Corp. that the airline industry was a “difficult business.”

SPi Global, a wholly owned subsidiary of PLDT, is among the service providers of PAL, handling call center reservations for the country’s flag carrier.

PH Carriers go Gaga over Malaysia Allocations

By Kathleen A. Martin 
Businessworld 

September 16, 2011

Zest Airways, Inc. and Air Philipines Corp. -- have asked regulators to revoke seat entitlements to Malaysia that were allocated to budget carrier Cebu Pacific which they had wanted for themselves, a notice published yesterday showed. 

“[The two airlines requested] for the revocation of Cebu Pacific’s allocation of entitlements to Malaysia dated July 15, 2011,” the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) bulletin read.

Cebu Pacific, operated by Cebu Air, Inc., had been granted 720 seats weekly on the Manila-to-Kuala Lumpur route out of the 2,520 seats which the Philippines bagged in June air talks with the Southeast Asian neighbor. Unlimited traffic rights to Malaysia carriers were granted in return under the Aquino administration’s “pocket-open skies” policy.

“We have granted Cebu Pacific temporary allocations to Malaysia because they applied for it early… However this is only temporary.

There is still no final decision on the allocations for the new entitlements,” CAB Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla said in a telephone interview yesterday.

According to the bulletin, a hearing on the matter has been slated on Sept. 20 for ZestAir’s and Air Philippines’ petitions.

The challenge to the allocations comes as CAB is refusing to undertake another round of air talks to increase the entitlements which four carriers -- South East Asian Airlines (Seair) included -- want amid plans of Malaysian rival Air Asia Bhd. to increase its presence here.

“Four airlines are vying for the new rights… Understandably all of them tend to be competitive and would want to have traffic rights,” Mr. Arcilla said.

“The airlines have yet to submit their position papers and we have yet to make an evaluation. Hopefully by this month, we will come up with a decision,” Mr. Arcilla said.

Currently, only two local carriers fly to Malaysia: Cebu Air and flag carrier Philippine Airlines.

Prior to the air talks, the two airlines both utilize a total of 2,300 seats per week on the Manila-to-Kuala Lumpur route.

“We’ll just have to allocate what we have,” Mr. Arcilla said.

Zest Air has applied for 900 seats per week on the Manila-to-Kuala Lumpur route to be utilized this year. It is then seeking for the number to be increased to 1,260 seats weekly for next year.

Air Philippines previously filed a petition before the CAB to be granted 1,260 seats per week on the Manila-to-Kuala Lumpur route.

Seair, on the other hand, asked the government for 2,520 seats per week on the Clark-Kuala Lumpur route. In addition, the budget carrier has asked for a number of seats for other Malaysia destinations

Flights of fancy and airline memoirs

September 5, 2011

By Danee Samonte
The Philippine Star

That’s me inside the British Airways Concorde
| Zoom

Manila - Six weeks before my first airplane flight in July of 1967, I already had sleepless nights — not because of worry or stress but because of sheer excitement. Flying has fascinated me even before I stepped into kindergarten. Together with some barely teenaged kids, we were headed for Farragut Park Idaho to represent the Philippines in the 12th World Boy Scout Jamboree.

Our flight was on a Northwest Orient Boeing 707. It had four noisy, gas-guzzling Pratt & Whitney engines and had to make stops at Wake Island, Honolulu and Portland Oregon before reaching our final destination in Seattle Washington. Nowadays, an aircraft about the size of a Boeing 707 like a Boeing 777 can fly nonstop to Seattle on two engines.

From that first flight in July 1967, my passion for flying grew stronger. Strange as it may sound, I found more pleasure in riding the plane than actually visiting a new country or city. I didn’t have the means for air travel back then, so I thought of creative ways to sate my hunger for flying. I tried unsuccessfully to be a travel agent and courier. Applying as an air steward also crossed my mind. I never got a chance to fly again until four years later in the summer of 1971 on Pan Am to San Francisco.

In the early ’70s, Philippine radio and TV were inundated with airline ads and jingles from gigantic companies like Northwest Orient (the ad with a gong sound), Pan Am (Pan Am makes the going great) and TWA (Up Up and Away). Ironically, they’re all gone now. Pan Am went bankrupt in 1991. TWA merged with American Airlines in 2001 and Northwest merged with Delta in 2008.
My first flight to Europe was in 1973 via Air France.

One of our three stops  en route to Paris was in Tehran, Iran. Since the start of the new millennium, Air France or KLM flies Manila to Europe nonstop. In 1974, there were two international airlines in the Philippines — Philippine Air Lines and Air Manila which was owned by the Silverio family. I flew on one of Air Manila’s decrepit Boeing 707s and had the scare of my life with its hairy landing in Los Angeles. Air Manila together with Filipinas Orient Airways folded up in the ’70s.

In the same decade, the no-frills/low-cost airline was born. Conceived by visionary Sir Freddie Laker, it was called Skytrain. Although it only lasted for five years, it served as the model for the thriving low-cost carriers of today like Air Asia, Cebu Pacific, Tiger Airways, Virgin Blue and the like.

Flying in the ’80s and through part of the ’90s still remained chic and fashionable. Passengers flew with the most trendy outfits and accessories in comparison to fliers nowadays who travel in shorts, sandals, sleeveless shirts and unkempt hair. They can’t be blamed though because even first-class passengers go through Gestapo like friskers, security and metal detectors. Who would want to fly in three-piece suits or knee-high boots just to remove them when going through security. Not to mention having toiletries confiscated when contents are more than 100 ml.

In 1981, Singapore Airlines unveiled one of its Boeing 747s with slot machines on a flight to San Francisco. It didn’t last long though because the machines had to be plastic instead of the normal metal and cracked easily.

In 1985, Richard Branson’s Virgin Airlines pioneered free massages for its premium upper-class passengers.

The Concorde started service in the 1976 but I didn’t get the opportunity to try it until the late ’80s. Flying the Concorde from Paris to New York was an experience to be cherished forever. Concorde fliers had a separate check-in counter, lounge and boarding gate. Service was beyond first-class. Meals were prepared by the world’s leading chefs and the normal eight-hour plus transatlantic flight took less than three and a half. Although the aircraft cabin was quite cramped with two abreast seating, nobody really complained. I was so thrilled to fly above the 60,000 feet level at Mach 2.2 speed. Normal aircrafts fly below Mach 1. Looking from my window, I could see the slight curve of the earth.

My second flight on the Concorde happened in October 1996 on British Airways with my compadres Joey de Leon and Tony Tuviera together with better halves Eileen Macapagal and Mady Tuviera. This time, it was from New York to London. On hindsight, I’m glad I had those two Concorde experiences because it’s gone forever together with much of the romance of flying. Nowadays, because flying has been the main target of terrorists, there’s too much paranoia.

I look forward to the near future when space flights can be booked on Virgin Galactic. I will need to start saving now because the last time I checked, seats on Virgin Galactic cost around $200,000.

MIAA All Set to clear ramp of derelict planes

Countdown begins 

September 2, 2011

While historical aircraft are a sight to see and behold, it has no place in an active airport which turned out to be the country's busiest aerodome. They have to be in museums which the airport is not.

Manila International Airport Authority General Manager Retired Major General Jose Angel Honrado, has issued and order telling the owners of the derelict airplanes remove them at the grounds of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) within 30 days or be charged fees for its storage.

"Abandoned aircraft not claimed or removed from the parking space at the general aviation area of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport complex would be charged parking fees or towed away", the airport’s top official said Thursday.

He said the aircraft, some of which were in varying states of disrepair, posed a danger to airport operations, “apart from being an eyesore and a safety hazard.” Aircraft not claimed would be auctioned off.

The airport manager said aircraft owners would be charged P31.54 per square meter as parking fee per month.

According to MIAA Airport monitoring inspector Lloyd Villagante, “Some of the aircraft are no longer flyable, while others are still waiting for buyers according to their owners.”

He said the owners were told as far back as October last year to remove their aircraft, but so far no one had complied.He said notices were sent to the owners again last month with the grace period set to expire on September 10.

FAA to Audit CAAP this December

September 1, 2011

By Kathleen A. Martin
Businessworld

THE PHILIPPINES is preparing for a fresh audit this December to be conducted by a team of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on the country’s commercial aviation safety systems, in hopes of regaining the "category 1" status it lost in 2008, the head of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said on Friday last week.

A rating upgrade, in turn, will open the door for Philippine air carriers either to mount or expand operations to the United States. Currently, only Philippine Airlines (PAL) maintains such routes.

The Philippines’ downgrade has been blamed for lower-than-expected visitor arrivals from the US, with the Philippine Travel Agencies Association saying last month that the tourism industry had foregone more than P66.3 billion since 2009 due to a lack of additional visitors from the US.

"[The] FAA technical review [is] scheduled [in] December," CAAP Director General Ramon S. Gutierrez said via text.

The FAA downgraded the Philippines’ civil aviation rating, citing policies and systems that were below standards set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) of the United Nations, including a lack of qualified safety personnel.

"A Category 2 rating means a country either lacks laws or regulations necessary to oversee air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards, or that its civil aviation authority -- equivalent to the FAA -- is deficient in one or more areas, such as technical expertise, trained personnel, record-keeping or inspection procedures," FAA had explained in January 2008 in announcing its action on the Philippines.

Mr. Gutierrez added that "preparations are being made to address [FAA’s] findings and corrective actions are made to close open items [sic] until the scheduled visit."

He did not elaborate on measures.

FAA downgraded the Philippines to "category 2" from "category 1" in 2008 after a safety audit in November 2007. The Philippines had been in "category 1" since 2002 prior to the downgrade.

CAAP preparations since early this year have included training of safety inspectors which has been a key issue for the downgrade, Mr. Gutierrez told reporters last May.

PAL financed this training that was conducted by US-based aviation consultant Tim Neel & Associates, LLC, which CAAP had hired.

At present, only PAL flies to the US, connecting Manila to Las Vegas in Nevada, San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, and Honolulu in Hawaii.

Moreover, budget carrier Cebu Pacific, which is operated by listed Cebu Air, Inc., has financed CAAP’s joint initiative with Airbus to enhance airport navigation systems in local hubs like Iloilo, Puerto Princesa, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro and Zamboanga.

In response to the FAA downgrade, the government enacted into law on March 4, 2008 Republic Act No. 9497, or the Civil Aviation Authority Act of 2008, replacing the deficient Air Transportation Office (ATO) with the CAAP.

Mr. Gutierrez had said in interviews last March and May that, after the FAA, his agency aims to invite teams from ICAO and the European Union (EU) in hopes of getting similar favorable action.

ICAO had designated the country as a "significant safety concern" in December 2009, while EU blacklisted the Philippines in April last year.

Last year, ICAO’s Coordinated Validation Mission scrapped its planned Dec. 7-10 audit, citing "operational concerns" -- in apparent reference to the change then in CAAP leadership.

Leaked diplomatic cables posted on the Internet last week by WikiLeaks recalled that an executive of Boeing Co., acting as an aviation consultant, told the US Embassy on March 19, 2008 that "in his opinion, regaining Category 1 would take at least one year after…three critical elements are in place."

The document identified these factors, as cited by the Boeing consultant, as appointing a head for the CAAP, hiring "qualified aviation inspectors" and putting in place a new computer system.

Three months later, the US Embassy said in a separate report that there had been "little progress" made by the country in addressing FAA’s concerns.

"Our meetings with Philippine government officials, airline owners and managers, and other involved persons suggest that little progress has been made on the return to Category 1," the cable read.

The cable also described the defunct ATO as a "corrupt organization," noting that funds meant to hire new inspectors were used to construct a new building inside the ATO complex instead.

But reforms needed to regain "Category 1" status were still not in place more than a year later, according to another cable dated July 1, 2009.

"The progress of the Philippine civil aviation regulator towards regaining…‘Category 1’ safety rating has been stymied by bureaucratic obstacles that block essential salary increases needed to attract and retain qualified personnel," the cable read.

"There is little chance of the Philippines regaining a Category 1 safety rating unless these issues are resolved," it added.

Despite informing the US Embassy a month later that it was working to address safety concerns, the Philippine civil aviation regulator was still found lacking qualified personnel, according to a cable, dated Aug. 20, 2009.