28 September 2011

Philippine Airlines says strike cripples flights

Philippine Airlines
MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines said a strike by ground employees has paralyzed flight operations at Manila airport and affected about 14,000 passengers.

PAL president Jaime Bautista said the national carrier is considering filing administrative and criminal complaints against about 300 employees who took part in the strike and work slowdown Tuesday.
Source: Inquirer News

In a nutshell, PAL is going to start outsourcing employees to cover their catering, ground handling and flight reservation operations. This will displace thousands of Philippine Airlines regular employees who would be given severance packages. This move by PAL is part of their cost cutting plan to make the business profitable again. The airline industry seems to be slowing down due to local and global conditions.

It would be hard for these Philippine Airlines employees to garner sympathy if they seem to purposely inconvenience passengers during the height of the storm. PAL employees are already at a disadvantage but going the strike route is not the right way.

Travelers and tourists in my opinion should not be held hostage to something they are not part of. By doing this, PALEA is putting a negative light on their plight.