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MANILA, Philippines – Philippine Airlines (PAL) confirmed that it is reducing its workforce by as much as 35 percent as part of a restructuring and recovery plan to survive the COVID-19 pandemic and the slow recovery of the airline industry. .
In a statement issued late on Monday (October 5), the flag carrier said the workforce reduction combines voluntary and involuntary measures to be implemented in the fourth quarter of 2020.
“PAL assured employees that the actions will be carried out in a fair manner that meets all legal requirements and with support for relocation assistance,” PAL said in its statement.
The Inquirer reported last week that PAL told employees it planned to retire and lay off more than a third of its workforce across the board, including ground crew and cabin crew. This will affect about 2,700 of the more than 7,800 employees at PAL and Air Philippines Corp.
The workforce reduction will take place until late November or early December this year, Inquirer sources said.
PAL said shareholders have injected additional capital to allow for continued operations. Its shareholders included owner and billionaire Lucio Tan, as well as ANA Holdings of Japan.
“At the height of the pandemic, PAL chose to implement temporary licenses and flexible work arrangements to keep jobs for as long as possible,” the airline said in its statement.
“However, collapsing travel demand and persistent travel restrictions on most domestic and international routes have made cost reduction unavoidable, with PAL currently operating less than 15 percent of its normal number of daily flights after eight months of blockades, “he added.
PAL indicated that it was in the process of rebuilding its national and international network. Still, industry-wide estimates led by the International Air Transport Association do not paint a rosy picture for the industry’s recovery for at least a few more years.
PAL said it also suspended capital expenditures, which are primarily for the acquisition of new aircraft. It also launched a skeletal workforce and cut management salaries and nonessential expenses.
PAL said it continued to organize special repatriation flights to help bring home stranded Filipinos from the Middle East, Europe, North America and all of Asia. It is also flying full cargo services to meet the public’s essential freight transportation needs and support economic supply chains.
“PAL recently made its second repatriation flight from Beirut with OFW fleeing the troubled Lebanese capital,” it said in the statement.
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