Around a quarter of the 3,300-strong Lufthansa Technik Philippines (LTP) workforce remain on duty every day amid the new coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic to ensure airworthiness of airplanes.
LTP said it continues to service aircraft in key ports such as Manila, Clark, Cebu and Davao, of which close to 300 work at the terminals and the rest work on aircraft maintenance tasks at the base.
LTP said keeping aircraft maintenance available is critical at this time to ensure the safety of airplanes carrying crucial cargo such as food and medical supplies, and aircraft used to bring home Filipinos overseas stranded because of travel restrictions.
“We contribute to our country’s goal to ‘flatten the curve’ through servicing and providing flight mechanics to cargo flights loaded with export/import goods and medical supplies and servicing repatriation flights of our fellow Filipinos stranded abroad due to the lockdown,” said Eugene Estigoy, section manager at Lufthansa’s Manila Terminals Operations.
Despite the drastic reduction in daily flights–now at 10 flights per day from approximately 250 flights per day before the pandemic–LTP’s aircraft mechanics continue to provide service to flag carrier Philippine Airlines and other international airlines. The aircraft maintenance team, working on limited staffing, still handles two planes every day, from the usual four to five, to ensure efficiency, as well maintenance work for grounded aircraft.
“We prioritize the aircraft that needs to fly out as soon as possible. In this situation, the aircraft maintenance department current workforce capacity was reduced as the safety of the personnel who cannot enter the NCR (Metro Manila) area was greatly considered. Only those aircraft that need attention or need to fly out are prioritized to be serviced,” said Grant Aron Naval, aircraft mechanic at LTP’s Manila hangar.
LTP’s frontliners are provided full sets of personal protective equipment and vitamins to make sure they stay healthy while on duty.
Sanitation booths were also placed at access points in LTP’s facilities for disinfection.
