Gov't to balance passengers' rights with airlines' viability

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) vowed to strike a balance between the rights of passengers and the profitability as well as sustainability of the airline industry as the government finalizes the proposed Air Passenger Bill of Rights.

Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas said the ongoing public consultations would help rationalize and clarify the rights and obligations of the passengers and the airlines to foster a better relationship between the two sectors.

During a public hearing last Friday, major players in the airline industry including Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific Air, SeaAir, Air Philippines, Zest Air, and Sky Airways urged the government to amend certain provisions of the proposed bill of rights.

“Let me reiterate to the airline companies that we are not here to ruin their business or cause them to lose money or in any way jeopardize what has been a successful model. But this model cannot be successful at the expense of the rights of the innocent passenger, who is a contractual partner in a contract entered into whenever a ticket is sold,” Roxas stressed.

The stakeholders of the airline industry were given turn to present their positions and submit their inputs or amendments to the 13-page working draft of the Air Passenger Bill of Rights.

According to him, all written inputs and proposed amendments would be received by the Technical Working Group up to July 16.

The DOTC has set a tentative scheduled for the next public hearing on July 20.

Cebu Pacific general manager for Long Haul division Alex Reyes urged the government to impose the same guidelines on foreign airlines to have a level playing field.

“The draft Bill of Rights would make Philippine carriers uncompetitive because the proposed regulation is only limited to Philippine-based carriers,” Reyes said.

For his part, Southeast Asian Airlines president Avelino Zapanta pointed out during the hearing that certain provisions of the proposed bill of rights could jack up the operating costs of airline companies.

“This could destroy the low-cost carrier model that has successfully created this dramatic increase in our passenger traffic,” Zapanta said.

For one, Zest Airways senior vice president for commercial and external affairs Butch Rodriguez cited a provision requiring airline companies to provide reserve aircraft in case of delays.

“We have one major concern, regarding Section 22 which requires the airline to provide a reserve aircraft in case of delays or technical disruptions, which would be seating on the ground everyday as a backup,” he said.