Longer turnaround time for CEB flights pushed

The country’s air safety regulator has increased its scrutiny on an unlikely aspect of a passenger aircraft’s operations—the time a plane stays at a terminal gate in between flights—with its eye toward a longer waiting period.

But this move could prove controversial for efficiency-driven budget carriers, which rely on maximizing aircraft utilization to bring down the ticket price.

The plan, triggered by a June 2 Cebu Pacific landing accident that paralyzed Davao’s main airport for two days, would increase the so-called turnaround time to at least 45 minutes, Civil Aviation Authority of Philippines (CAAP) deputy Director General John Andrews told Inquirer in an interview last week.

Andrews said the agency, in its recommendation to President Aquino the previous week, is looking to make the extended turnaround time “mandatory” for Cebu Pacific, the country’s largest budget airline with a turnaround time policy of 30 minutes.

He said the plan could eventually cover domestic passenger flights across all air carriers, depending on instructions given “from the top”.

“[When] there is pressure to do things fast, sometimes things are missed. Our airplanes are very safe but you cannot take things for granted,” said Andrews. He said CAAP is still waiting for an order from the Department of Transportation and Communications before it can implement any change in policy.

“I was hoping this would take effect July 15 [for Cebu Pacific] but we still have not received word from the department. We want to give Cebu Pacific a few weeks to rearrange their schedule and notify passengers,” he said.

The move, Andrews noted, was timely given that the airline industry is in an “off-peak” season.

Spokespersons for Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines, the country’s largest air carriers, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Marianne Hontiveros, CEO of the local unit of Malaysian budget carrier Air Aisa Bhd., said the company’s 25-minute turnaround time was “sacred” and that “safety is never compromised.”  Executives of ZestAir, partly owned by Air Asia, and Tiger Airways Philippines did not respond for comment.

Andrews said a longer waiting time could also help carriers “make corrections” to their schedules given congestion issues at Ninoy Aquino International Airport, the country’s busiest airport and the main gateway to Metro Manila.

Cebu Pacific was already ordered by CAAP on June 26 to reassess its 30-minute turnaround policy to possibly extend this to 45 minutes as part of a “corrective action plan”, following the results of its findings from the Davao incident.

None of the 165 passengers on that flight were hurt after the plane skidded off the runway as it landed in poor weather conditions. Pilot error was tagged as the cause and CAAP suspended the flight’s captain and the first officer for various violations, including their failure to immediately evacuate passengers.

Cebu Pacific agreed to all of CAAP’s other requirements, including a random check of its pilots and instructors through flight simulations, while adding safeguards of its own to make the airline “safer”.

“There is a suggestion in the corrective action plan that Cebu Pacific go to 45 minutes, which I think we will implement and that they make it mandatory,” Andrews said. “I’m also recommending that it be done for all airlines.”

The plan, if implemented industry-wide, is likely to be contested by players in the country’s aggressively expanding low-cost carrier business.

Budget airline executives, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid publicly contradicting the regulator, said the move would have significant negative cascading effects for a business model built on speed and efficiency.

The turnaround time, itself closely linked to an aircraft’s utilization, which is a key performance indicator, would entail increased expenses for an industry already challenged by high fuel prices.