Is it safe to fly with Philippine carriers?

Special Report

MANILA, Philippines — When an aircraft ferrying 242 lives falls from the sky, it becomes easier to understand why some people fear flying, especially when everyone on that flight – save for a sole survivor – was tragically killed.

This was the case of Air India’s Flight 171, assigned a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, that was bound for London from India’s Ahmedabad Airport on that fateful day of June 12. The aircraft crashed minutes after taking off, leaving all but one dead, and killing 19 more on the ground.

A day after, on June 13, data obtained from Google Trends showed that “plane crash” was one of the most popular searches on the web in the Philippines.

Perhaps out of curiosity, or rooted in concern, Filipinos had thought about how safe it is to board a plane in this day and age.

Based on records from Aviation Safety Network, there have been at least 66 flight accidents across the globe so far this year, leading to 397 fatalities.

Of this total, two were recorded in the Philippines, resulting in the loss of four lives.

The first involves a Beechcraft B300 King Air 500 – owned by military supplier Metrea Special Aerospace based in Washington – that crashed in an airfield in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur. The aircraft was providing intelligence support to the Philippine military.

The crash killed all four occupants of the Beechcraft, including a 22-year-old member of the US Marines, who was here for joint defense activities between Manila and Washington.

The second concerns a United Airlines flight, served by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, headed for Singapore. The plane, originating from San Francisco, California, experienced severe turbulence above Claveria, Cagayan.

Fortunately, all 189 passengers of the plane were safe, but a cabin crew member suffered serious injuries, and four others sustained minor wounds.

Notably, none of these aircraft accidents involve a Philippine carrier. And this is not by chance, industry players told The STAR, because they invest heavily on engineering and maintenance costs to ensure that each and every plane on their fleet is safe for navigation.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that last year, the all-accident rate in flights was one in every 880,000, with seven fatal accidents out of 40.6 million flights.

However, as stated by IATA director-general Willie Walsh, every fatality is one too many. And in aviation, the principle is to learn from every accident out of respect for those who lost their lives.

Cebu Pacific vice president for engineering and fleet management Shevantha Weerasekera told The STAR that maintenance costs account for as much as 20 percent of operational expenses.

This is the largest item every year on Cebu Pacific’s opex, only behind fuel. Weerasekera said the airline buys spare parts from the original manufacturer or designated distributor, and though this may drive up costs, it ensures the highest reliability and safety.

In 2024, Cebu Pacific spent P15.96 billion for repairs and maintenance, and this accounted for 17 percent of its P95.74-billion expenditure bill.

In an e-mail exchange with The STAR, flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it is prepared to spend more for aircraft maintenance over the next five years to cover parts shortages right now. Airlines are dealing with supply backlogs for aircraft parts, as manufacturers are finding it hard to keep up with the post-pandemic demand.

“Learning from the aviation industry’s recent experiences with parts shortages and global supply chain crises, we remain committed to our robust continuous long-term planning process, which incorporates budget considerations for aircraft maintenance for the next five years,” PAL said.

Last year, PAL invested P22.61 billion for maintenance works, and this translated to 14 percent of its P160.04-billion spending total. The airline committed to retain aircraft maintenance as one of its highest items for operational expenses.

Budget carrier AirAsia Philippines, for its part, observes a reliability control program that allows it to detect issues ahead before they become a problem.

The airline has also procured more parts to keep its operations uninterrupted by the shortage, and this has increased AirAsia’s technical dispatch reliability to 98.5 percent. At this rate, the airline is deploying aircraft almost all of the time without issues.

In essence, AirAsia Philippines is seeing no problems with its aircraft to warrant longer stay for maintenance checks.

Among the three Philippine carriers, Cebu Pacific operates the youngest fleet of aircraft, with an average age of 5.4 years for its composition of Airbus A320s, A321s, A330s and ATR 72-600s. In 2024, it placed a $24-billion order for up to 152 aircraft from Airbus to meet future demand.

Weerasekera said Cebu Pacific prides itself in its agility to repair an aircraft issue in as quick as two hours, and it also minimizes unplanned maintenance to as few as possible.

“We have a very young fleet, so the issues that we face are minor in nature and are representative of the normal operational issues faced by any major airline. We also planned up to eight percent of aircraft time for maintenance in 2024, which means the unplanned maintenance downtime was minimal, and most defects are resolved within two to four hours,” Weerasekera said.

PAL maintains a fleet with an average age of 10.4 years, while AirAsia Philippines manages the oldest aircraft, reaching 16.05 years.

PAL said a lot of factors have to be considered before an aircraft is retired. However, PAL noted that it retires jets earlier than industry practice of keeping them for as long as 20 years.

Cebu Pacific vice president for safety, quality and security Manny Ilagan said these interventions that carriers invest on year in, year out for the welfare of passengers.

“What should reassure us is how seriously every incident is treated. Lessons are learned and the procedures are strengthened, as every part of the system, from pilots, to engineers, to regulators, are continually reviewed and improved,” Ilagan told The STAR.

PAL, Asia’s first and oldest airline, has this to vow: Aviation is still the safest mode of transport, and this is because carriers make the due diligence to invest in safety.