PAL sees flight cancellations as COVID runs amuck

BANKRUPTCY Philippine Airlines (PAL) filed for bankruptcy
to stop further financial losses of its parent company PAL
Holdings Inc. amounting to P71.8 billion in 2020. The pandemic
struck a devastating blow to the airline after air travel almost
grounded to a halt. —GRIG C.MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine Airlines is preparing to cancel flights after receiving a flood of rebooking requests from passengers amid the ongoing surge in COVID-19 infections.

PAL told passengers in an advisory on Friday (Jan. 7) that flight “cancellations or schedule adjustments are likely.

“Please continue to check flight status for any changes in your flight schedule, and stay updated on changes in travel requirements by checking the website of the concerned provincial local government or destination country,” the carrier said.

The Department of Health reported on Thursday (Jan. 6) 17,220 new infections—up nearly 60 percent from the previous day. Moreover, the positivity rate climbed from 31.7 percent to 36.9 percent also on Thursday.

“We are receiving more and more calls from passengers who need to rebook or cancel their flights because they have tested positive or are in precautionary isolation,” PAL said in the advisory.

It added that many frontline employees in ticket offices, contact centers and other support teams were unable to report for work.

“These simultaneous events have created challenges in our ability to serve all our customers promptly, including longer wait times for calls to our reservations hotlines, longer queues in ticket offices, and corresponding delays in handling transactions,” PAL said.

“Our PAL teams are doing all possible to process all passenger requests, unclog any bottlenecks and serve you the best we can. We request your understanding and cooperation as we cope with these serious but temporary challenges,” it added.

PAL asked passengers to use the MyPAL Request Hub (https://bit.ly/MPRHPAL) for rebooking requests, queries and ticket transactions to avoid long waiting times on its hotline.

The airline’s ticket offices will be remain open from Monday through Friday at 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from Jan. 8 to 31.

PAL has ticket offices in Cubao (Quezon City), Makati, Filinvest (Alabang), Ortigas Avenue, PNB (Pasay) and Quezon Avenue. Its Padre Faura office in Manila is temporarily closed and will reopen on Jan. 12.

Its Domestic Road ticket office will be open from Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The carrier also has ticket offices in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminals 1 and 2.

TSB