Flag carrier Philippine Airlines Inc. (PAL) is implementing an aggressive strategy to generate revenues and control costs, as it gears up for a “new normal” in air transportation.
In a statement, PAL said cost control strategies include a delay in the delivery of new aircraft, the suspension of capital expenditures, adoption of a skeleton workforce set up during the current crisis period, cuts in senior management salaries and cutback on non-essential expenses.
This forms part of a strategy to address the impact of the flight shutdown that persisted into April and May this year, due to restrictions to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Since March 2020, PAL operated 640 local and international cargo flights carrying crucial medical and food supplies. The airline also mounted 222 sweeper and repatriation flights that flew home stranded passengers from various countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, Oceania and North America.
In June and July, PAL restored a number of regular weekly commercial flights to the United States, Japan, Canada, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Southeast Asia, greater China and over 15 domestic destinations, along with occasional flights to Australia.
PAL’s network will offer 122 weekly domestic and international flights by the start of August, with plans to progressively increase routes and flight frequencies as travel demand recovers.
PAL reported a comprehensive loss of $183.1 million for the first quarter ending March 31, 2020, reflecting the severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
PAL said it registered a net income of $37 million in January 2020, a 10 percent improvement over 2019, before the pandemic forced a slowdown in February and the eventual suspension of domestic and international flights within March.
Meanwhile, Vivienne Tan and Michael Tan, the children of tycoon Lucio Tan, are no longer part of the PAL board as of July 23, 2020.
Vivienne Tan remains as board of director of other Lucio Tan-owned companies, while Michael Tan is still the president of LTG Inc. and Asia Brewery.
PAL’s new board includes Lucio Tan, Carmen Tan, Gilbert Santa Maria, Mark Chen, Rowena Chua, Johnip Cua, Florentino Herrera III, Juan de Zuniga, Ryuhei Maeda, Lucio Tan III, Samuel Uy and Gregorio Yu.
