SEATTLE, USA — “I will need to take a flight from (Asia) to (USA) soon and I’m super nervous for long flights especially over the ocean,” a passenger over Reddit expressed in a thread titled, “How safe is it to fly over the Pacific Ocean?”
In the thread, fellow passengers comforted the worried passenger, assuring him or her that there are islands where a plane can land during emergencies.
“I do this four to eight times a year from the West Coast to Tokyo and beyond. It is perfectly safe. Usually planes fly near the Aleutian Islands, which serve as a diversion airport in case of problems, which in many trips I have never had. And you will certainly not have,” said one passenger.
“If it wasn’t safe, it wouldn’t be done. It’s absolutely fine,” affirmed another.
In an interview with Philstar.com and other media in Westin, Seattle, Philippine Airlines (PAL) Vice President for Sales Salvador Britanico Jr. assured passengers of the safety of their newly launched Manila to Seattle direct flight.
According to him, the new flights are onboard Boeing 777-300ER airplanes, the same models used by other airlines such as Korean Air and KLM.
“The B777-300ER is the world's largest long-range twin-engine jetliner, powered by the largest and most powerful commercial jet engine,” PAL said in its website. “The B777-300ER provides exceptional fuel economy, efficiency, reliability and high levels of cabin comfort for its passengers, combined with unmatched levels of payload and range.”
The B777-300ER, said Boeing, are patterned after the 777 or the Triple Seven, “the world’s largest twinjet and the most-built wide-body airliner” made to withstand long-haul, non-stop flights such as PAL’s 14-hour direct Manila to Seattle and vice versa route.
"This one, the Triple Seven that you flew in is 370 seats, 42 in business... there are four rows on the front cabin and two rows on the second cabin and then the rest are economy," Britanico explained.
Seattle is the birthplace and headquarters of Boeing, so PAL’s Manila to Seattle airplanes were delivered directly from there. Reports say a Boeing 777-300ER costs $375.5 million (over P2 trillion).
At a tour in Seattle's Museum of Flight, PAL executives showed to the press a copy of the first ever Boeing airplane PAL flew 83 years ago on its first route, Manila to Baguio, with only five passengers onboard.
Today, with the launch of the Manila-Seattle route, PAL has become "the biggest carrier that operates direct flights from the US North America to the Philippines and arguably, Southeast Asian carrier also,” claimed Britanico. “So we're the only Southeast Asian carrier flying (directly) here (Seattle), (together with) Singapore (Airlines) … But in San Francisco, arguably we have one of the biggest footprints.”
“Whether it's one-stop or non-stop, of course, we prioritize safety,” Britanico affirmed, citing PAL’s 83-year flight history, including over the Pacific, where the airlines fly to Los Angeles twice a day; to San Francisco daily; New York three times a week; Honolulu for five or six times a week; Manila to Guam and back; and now, three times a week (Wednesday, Friday and Sunday) for Manila to Seattle.
According to him, PAL is welcoming additional aircrafts soon from another company to help service the Manila-Seattle route and make PAL meet its commitment to fly three times a week consistently and regularly.
“With technology, it's just getting the farther and farther, so we’re able to just fly farther and farther out. That's the beauty now, the range of aircraft has become longer, making it easier for travelers,” Britanico said.
Since a direct Manila-Seattle route cuts one’s travel time from 20 to 14 hours, the shorter travel time means less safety risks for passengers. But besides safety, this shortened period denotes convenience and efficiency, said Britanico.
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“So, the key is really be on time,” he stressed, “To make sure you're reliable, you don't cancel flights and be on time. Because once you have all these interruptions, that's when your business all of a sudden can be impacted. So imagine, if you're late for a flight. It's a two-hour connection, you're late 20 minutes and you miss that. You miss that connection. That’s the battle for airlines — all that connectivity, to make sure all flows and works efficiently.”
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Editor's note: The tour to Seattle was hosted by Philippine Airlines to promote tourism in the area. At no stage does the host organization have a say on the stories generated from the coverage, interviews conducted, publication date and story treatment. Content is produced solely by Philstar.com following editorial guidelines.
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