CAB: Airlines need to tone down strict trade rules

Budget airlines have spurred the growth of the country’s air travel sector, bringing down plane tickets to prices most Filipinos can afford.

But carriers, in their pursuit of bigger market shares, may have disregarded the rights of the very consumers they serve.

The country’s top commercial regulator said some of the budget airlines’ “business rules” have become too strict and would have to be scaled back in the interest of protecting the flying public.

“There has to be a balance between public interest and consumer rights,” Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said.

Last week, the House Committee on Transportation in a hearing ordered airlines to institute reforms in their booking and ticketing policies, among others.

The hearing zeroed in on the practice of budget airlines to overbook flights or sell discounted tickets that are nonrefundable if not used by a passenger for whatever reason.

Airlines, particularly Cebu Pacific and Airphil Express, were also criticized for not letting passengers on flights if the said customers happened to miss their boarding time, even by just a minute.

Arcilla said these budget airline practices were industry norms, noting that the same measures are applied in other countries.

“If fares are cheaper, the conditions are less flexible,” he said. “That’s a global trend and that has been successful in many markets.”

But in the Philippines, Arcilla said airlines would have to be put in their “proper place,” explaining that what works in other countries need not apply in the local market.

“Of course, we want to give them the opportunity to grow. But Congress needs better passenger protection,” he said.

Arcilla said another factor to consider is that the lower fares, which make air travel accessible to more Filipinos, helped spur trade and tourism in many parts of the country.

He said budget carriers now dominate the country’s domestic travel sector, which means any change in rules will affect a large segment of the population.

“About 80 percent of all domestic air travel is handled by budget airlines,” he said.