PAL is still Pinoys' friend

I was in Silay City yesterday and the most common topic of conversation was, expectedly, the new airport located there and the “birthing pains” related to accessibility of the rather distant site. We also heard stories, some amusing, some pathetic, about the shock of some arriving passengers who had not known that they would be landing in a different airport. Among these were balikbayans and tourists who did not have relatives or friends to meet them, and did not even know how to find transportation means to get to Bacolod City .

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I asked a Silaynon, why, aren't there any taxis in Silay to service the new airport? “We have no taxis here,” she said. “Only tricycles.” What about jeepneys, can they not get passengers to and from the airport? “We have no jeepneys,” she also said. “Only tricycles.” So, can the tricycles not go to the airport to wait for the passengers, or bring them there? Somebody else answered that, saying most of the tricycles are hesitant to bring passengers as they may not have fares coming back. I also heard, on the day of the inauguration, that a passenger, who mistakenly went to the old airport site that day, had to agree to pay a taxi P450 so he would not miss his flight!

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But these problems are to be expected, if those in charge did not even remember to fix the roads until the airport was finished, how could you expect them to remember that some passengers are not car or motor vehicle owners, and have to rely on public transport – which was not ready yet when the first plane flew in? Now we have all this bothersome talks that a certain family is cornering the operation of shuttle buses as well as the coffee shop at the new terminal. Is this true? Shouldn't a bidding be held before such privileges are granted to anyone?

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Ed Alunan, the guy who made his own version of flying history by hopping on the supposed last flight from the old airport and flying back on the first one to land at the new one, has a very good idea. He said the airlines, like PAL and Cebu Pacific, should provide the shuttle buses going to the airport and that those who board them should be considered as “checked-in” passengers already. That sounds very practical, because, even if the bus gets stalled or breaks down, the plane will not leave without a whole busload of checked-in passengers not boarded yet.

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Meanwhile, the Secretary of Transportation and Communication has assured that they will be able to reverse the damning advisory of the American Federal Aviation Administration that had demoted Philippine aviation industry from category 1 to category 2, with a warning to their citizens not to take Philippine planes when they travel. That was a painful thrust that led some to suspect, understandably, that the advisory was aimed to benefit foreign airlines.

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The government has issued an appeal to Pinoy travelers to patronize Philippine Airlines when they travel abroad, or come home to RP. I hope our kababayans will heed this, not only to help sustain the operations of our flag carrier, but because I truly believe that PAL can compete with any of those foreign ones anytime. We have pilots who are considered the best – in fact other countries try to pirate them – and, as for on-flight services, PAL is also very competitive.

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I think I can say that with some degree of authority, having flown on various airlines and can therefore compare their services. I have traveled on the now defunct KLM, the Dutch airline, also the TransWorld Airways, or TWA, Royal Thai, the American Delta, the German Lufthansa, etcetera, and I still bat for PAL. And I would say that, even if my old friends like Job Lamela, Rollie Estabillo, Rose Dizon and now-retired Eking Santos, had not been there.

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I was relieved to hear the military deny that it was Ellen Tordesillas whom they had pinpointed as the journalist who had aided and abetted the escape of rebel captain Nicanor Faeldon. The military had not named her, but the very broad hints caused the feisty Ellen to come out, slamming those making the accusation. But the naughty girl, asked if she was the one involved, answered tongue-in-cheek “I do not help bad people”, and left the poor generals to chew on that.*

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