A travel website that declared Philippine Airlines as among the world’s most reliable airlines bodes well not only for the nation’s flag carrier but by extension other airlines in the country which have made substantial strides in making flights available to more Filipinos.
In ranking 21 out of the 22 airline carriers the travel website WanderBat said PAL’s international flights tend to be delayed 47 percent of the time and that the average age of its 51-plane fleet is four years.
The WanderBat study considered three factors to determine how they rank the dependability of the world’s airlines.
These include on-time performance which determines “how frequently flights are on time, delayed and cancelled”; checked baggage cost which tells “the number of bags you get to check for free, as well as the cost of checking additional bags after your free allotment,” and fleet which describes “the average age of a fleet.”
These criteria were factored in with the international traveler in mind but it may as well apply to domestic travelers who are increasingly being courted with budget fare offers by enterprising airline firms and these are comparable with passenger vessels, though not as cheap as those charged by buses.
Then again, not everyone is adventurous enough to travel long hours on board a bus or spend an overnight boat trip and would prefer the option of fast, safe and comfortable travel that airline travel can provide.
That Philippine Airlines made it to the top 22 most dependable airlines list is a testament to the capability and professionalism of the staff of the country’s flag carrier that offset somewhat the financial and technical limits of the company.
It’s far from perfect of course and complaints will always be there. But it is a telling indication that PAL had figured in far fewer accidents that most if not all shipping lines.
It’s ironic since the country is composed of 7,100 islands and as such, should be primarily driven by sea travel rather than by air.
There are however, more documented cases of customer complaints from airline passengers than accidents, most of which have found their way into social media.
One such incident involved an actress who was accused of slapping a model in front of passengers.
Another involved PAL attendants and its president, when elders of the Gaisano family threatened to sue the the airline for neglect and damges after a young grand daughter got scalded by a cup of hot water given by one of the flight attendants.
Still, we can only hope that PAL and other airline firms, which have faced complaints for failing to accommodate the larger than usual number of passengers during holidays such as the recent Holy Week break, continually improve and not compromise on their services despite the competitive budget-friendly prices they offer to the public.
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