Neha Jain: Philippine Airlines

Showing posts with label Philippine Airlines | News. Show all posts

Sunday, February 6, 2011

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1. CEB hiring 75 pilots, 200 cabin crew for Asian expansion

MANILA, Philippines – Cebu Pacific (CEB) is carrying out its biggest recruitment todate for its Asian expansion, hiring 75 Airbus and ATR pilots, 200 cabin crew, 10 mechanics and engineers plus 20 ground support crew in the various fields of cargo, airport services, accounting, information systems and human resources.

“CEB has created over 4,000 jobs with an annual payroll of over P2 billion. It has created 500 jobs in the last year alone,” said CEB VP for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog. But now, “We need more people as we expand and takes delivery of 20 more brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft from 2011-2014.”

Already, the airline has received four brand-new Airbus A320 aircraft from October 2010 to January 2011.

“CEB offers unlimited travel benefits, competitive compensation packages, annual performance bonuses and a fun working environment,” she stressed. “Since the airline is growing, our employees also enjoy career opportunities not easily available in other airlines.”

CEB is the largest carrier in the Philippine air transportation industry, offering its low-cost services to more destinations and routes with higher flight frequency within the country than any other airline.

It was also the first low-cost carrier in Asia. Currently, CEB operates over 260 flights daily to 16 international cities and 33 domestic destinations. It flew almost 10.5 million passengers in 2010, exceeding targets with a 19% increase over 2009. Its international passengers also grew by 38% in 2010.

The airline will have recruitment event next week at Hotel Intercontinental Manila on February 11-12, 2011, from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Applicants can also email their credentials to recruitment@cebupacificair.com.

One-day processing recruitment campaigns will likewise be held at PATTS College of Aeronautics on February 9 and the Philippine State College of Aeronautics on March 2, with others to follow.

Those applying for Flight Crew must embody CEB’s culture of fun, should have a college degree and basic computer literacy, ICAO recognized ATPL (acceptable to Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) and a minimum of 500 hours on civil registered transport aircraft certificated on multi- crew operations, according to Iyog.

Meanwhile, qualifications for being a CEB flight attendant include a dynamic personality, at least 5’3 in height, weight that is proportional to height, clear complexion, and good eyesight.

2. The future is Clark

MANILA, Philippines – It feels good to be writing again. I’ve been away from this space for more than a year having played an active role in the last year’s elections, as any good citizen should.

Working in politics is a thankless job and in many levels, I’m glad I am back in the private sector. People working in government are fair game for criticisms, with or without basis.

The country has more than its fair share of critiques and their voices blare on tri-media and the internet. The negativity has a way of eating into the self esteem of the nation and I do not wish to add to it.

So as one privileged to have a voice through this corner, I chose to dwell on the positive. I will write about the triumphs, achievements and victories of government and the Filipino people.

Hopefully, in some small way, I can influence people to view their situation as a ‘glass half-full’, rather than a ‘glass-half empty’. To see opportunity in challenging situations and to inspire people to emulate those who excel, create, innovate and invent.

I searched for the best story to kick off my column. There are a lot of good things to write about, but what I really wanted was story that was BIG in every way shape and form!

I have been hearing a lot of good things about Clark its exponential export growth and how it provides jobs for 58,000 of our countrymen. But what I rally wanted to know was if Clark Freeport was really attracting the big ticket investors to make it the logistics and industrial powerhouse it was set-up to be. Was this the story I was looking for? I needed to see for myself.

I got myself an invitation to tour the Freeport complex. Apparently , the 4,400 hectare Freeport is jointly managed by the Clark International Airport Corporation (CAIC) who oversees all facets of the Freeport’s civil aviation operations, and the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) who manages matters relating to commerce and industry.

Victor Jose ‘Chichos’ Luciano, President of CAIC and the Diosdado Macapagal Internatonal Airport (DMIA) took me and my party to a tour of the facility including the airport itself, the epicenter of the Freeport.

I secretly feared that the remaining legacy of the Philippine-American Commonwealth would go the way of the Escolta district or Pasay City. It did not. The Freeport is impeccably maintained, down to the landscaped streets and police presence everywhere.

I was pleased to see a few big players in the DMIA complex. Singapore Airlines Engineering (Philippines) has established a facility to maintain aircrafts within the region, even as large as the Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A340. Expansion is afoot to accommodate even larger aircrafts like the Airbus A380. The Rolls Royce Company is also present to repair aircraft engines.

The DMIA is a small airport. It was once the air terminal used by U.S servicemen in the 80’s, now remodeled to be DMIA’s budget terminal. Its clean and efficiently run. No small feat considering it will be servicing a million passengers this year. (They serviced 650,000 passengers last year). The Clark airport is ISO certified and was even voted best budget airport in the region. Not bad for a refurbished facility!

To handle the traffic, an expansion of the existing passenger terminal has already been constructed and set to open by the summer. It’s another small but modern glass structure that gives the passengers a panoramic view of the runway. With the new facility in place, DMIA will be able to handle 2.5 million passengers a year.

Clark will continue to grow in importance as it is set to be the main gateway to the country. Talks are ongoing for the construction of a mammoth passenger terminal that can accommodate more than 20 million passengers a year. Although not official yet, word has it that Tonyboy Cojuangco’s new airline, Air Asia Philippines, is looking at the DMIA as its central hub.

But all of this is small news. I was looking for the big kahuna and yes, they have it! Kuwait based Peregrine Development International, a multi-billion investment firm that specializes in logistics, engineering and project management is developing what it calls the Global Gateway Logistics City (GGLC), a 177 hectare facility rising along the periphery of the DMIA.

The GGLC will have a Logistics Park, where aviation support activities and logistics centers will be located. It will also have a Business Park where aviation related headquarters will be zoned side by side with financial corporate offices.

Beside it will rise a Technology and Aero Park where research, development and training firms servicing the aviation industry will be located. It will also be the hub for health care and medical tourism with the second branch of the highly successful Medical City Hospital as its anchor.

When completed, Peregrine would have directly and indirectly pumped-in north of $5 Billion in new money and would have generated over a million jobs for our countrymen. It will generate billions in local revenues and export earnings. The CDC expects the logistics city to be fully operational within the decade.

The Clark Freeport Zone has a chance to be the nation’s model city a showcase of Philippine progress and a national cash-cow. It is on its way.. construction is ongoing! The future looks bright, and yes, it may just become the economic powerhouse it was envisioned to be.

3. Pilot schools to be moved out of NAIA

Ramon S. Gutierrez, CAAP officer-in-charge, told reporters at the sidelines of an aviation summit last week the state-owned Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) will take charge in the implementation of the plan.

“The plan is still in principle and we are actually expecting resistance from the aviation school administrators, owners and students as most of them are foreigners. Most of the foreign students want to attend an aviation school near NAIA because they go to their home countries from time to time,” he said.

However, Mr. Gutierrez said allowing regional airports to house the aviation schools would translate to additional revenues as most of these airports have lower flight frequencies compared with NAIA.

“This will be part of CAAP and MIAA’s immediate plans. This will give these small airports additional revenues as they only generate revenues from air navigation fees for the airports,” he said.

Mr. Gutierrez said his agency broke even last year with close to P3 billion in revenues.

“Our revenues last year will be just enough for the maintenance but will not be enough for capital expenses. It will not be enough to maintain 86 airports. We will give the schools the preference which regional airport they would want to go to,” he said.

In July last year, CAAP ordered an audit of all 63 aviation schools in the country as the agency discovered that fake licenses had been issued to some student pilots.

NEHA JAIN

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Wednesday, February 2, 2011

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1. 5 cops face raps over US Navy officer's death

MANILA, Philippines – Five officers of the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group (PNP-ASG) will face homicide charges for negligence in connection with the death of Filipino-American US Navy Lieutenant Commander Scintar Mejia last December 26, 2010.

Pasay police chief Senior Superintendent Napoleon Cuaton made the recommendation after an investigation into Mejia’s death.

The US Navy officer allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the PNP-ASG headquarters.

Cuaton also recommended additional investigation for 11 other police officers led by Chief Inspector who Norberto Lumbera, Jr., who could face administrative charges.

Doubts over the cause of Mejia’s death surfaced following an autopsy made by Dr. Joseph Palmero, medico-legal officer of the PNP.

The autopsy showed that Mejia incurred a deep wound and a chest fracture.

Pasay investigators found out that the US Navy officer did not have the injuries before an attempt was made to revive him.

Cuaton said Mejia reportedly had a psychological problem amid his ongoing divorce with his wife in the United States.

Mejia was arrested by PNP-ASG personnel for alleged drug possession.

An investigation by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency, however, showed that the white powder supposedly found in Mejia's luggage tested negative for cocain.

2. Airline tax hit
THE government will earn an additional income of $78 million from rejuvenated tourism and $1 billion from exports should it exempt international air carriers from paying the Gross Philippine Billings Tax (GPBT) and the 3 percent Common Carrier’s Tax (CCT).

Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said that the Philippines is the only country that charges GPBT and CCT taxes on international civil aviation and sea travel.

Both taxes are levied on all revenues, passengers, cargoes and excess baggage.

3.Grounded in the Philippines

MANILA - A tussle between the Philippine government and a private German company over the construction of a US$425 million airport has exposed the legal risks for foreigner investors in the Philippines at a time President Benigno Aquino is seeking foreign funds to finance badly needed infrastructure spending.

A recent ruling by a United States arbitration court in favor of Germany's Fraport AG Worldwide Services Inc over the Philippine government has raised diplomatic tensions between Berlin and

Manila and could jeopardize future development assistance if Aquino's administration doesn't find soon an amicable solution to the business conflict.

The Washington-based International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) handed down a decision in late December to reinstate Fraport's right to file an arbitration and compensation case against the Philippine government. The decision marked a reversal of a 2007 ICSID ruling that found Fraport had violated Philippine laws that cap foreign ownership of key investments, including airports, at 40%.

In a previous ruling, ICSID found that the Filipino firms working in a consortium with Fraport had entered into a secret shareholder agreement that would have allowed the German company to maintain managerial, operational and financial control over NAIA-3, or Terminal 3, of Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport, in compensation for Fraport's financing most of the project.

In 2004, the Supreme Court declared the original contract null and void because it exceeded the legal foreign ownership cap. The government subsequently seized the terminal in 2007 and partially opened the new airport facility the following year. It has since hosted several concessionaires, including popular budget airline Cebu Pacific, at the new terminal. The Fraport-led consortium, known as PIATCO, has sent eviction letters to the airlines for "illegally" using the terminal.

The contested project has dragged on for over a decade, long enough to span four different Philippine administrations. German Ambassador to the Philippines Christian-Ludwig Weber-Lortsch recently said the 42 million euros (US$52 million) lost through a partial investment guarantee for the project is the biggest loss the federal German government has incurred in decades.

He claimed that the government cannot legally operate the terminal because it was privately funded and that the issue has dampened broad foreign investor sentiment towards the Philippines, particularly among Europeans. "It is a matter or credibility. You need to be sure what you signed will be honored," he said.

The saga has clouded Aquino's pitch to foreign investors to help finance new public infrastructure projects. He promised during a road show last year to promote public-private partnership development schemes that he would ensure a level playing field for foreigners and that the Philippines would be more foreign investor friendly under his watch.

Faced with perennial fiscal shortfalls, the Philippines needs lots of private funds to finance infrastructure spending and propel economic growth to its target rate of between 8% to 10%, a clip experts say is needed to reduce endemic poverty. Current infrastructure spending in the Philippines represents less than 3% of gross domestic product (GDP), well below the 5% average in other Asian countries.

The World Bank recently estimated that the Philippines needs some US$35 billion to $45 billion in fresh investments from the private sector to improve its infrastructure over the next 10 years, including upgrades for the country's aging and often decrepit airports. Domestic air traffic at NAIA is expected to reach 40 million passengers by 2017, double the 20.5 million passengers who flew in 2007, according to the Airport Council International, a global association of airport operators.

Investments are also needed to restore foreign confidence in Philippine aviation. In 2007, the US Federal Aviation Authority's International Aviation Safety Assessment downgraded the country's aviation ratings from Category 1 to Category 2 due to safety concerns of its airlines. Former Senator Mar Roxas II later estimated that the downgrade cost the country hundreds of millions of dollars in lost investment and tourism, mostly from the US and Europe.

Political contract
The PIATCO consortium won the NAIA-3 deal in 1997 during the administration of president Fidel Ramos. Fraport, which manages the Frankfurt airport, later joined in 1999 during the time of president Joseph Estrada. The contract was canceled in 2002 by president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on the vague grounds that it was disadvantageous to the government. The cancellation triggered legal cases in the Philippines and abroad that have now dragged on for almost a decade into the Aquino administration.

Under Aquino, the Justice Department recently announced that it has recommended the filing of criminal charges against Fraport and PIATCO officials. It claimed in its recommendation that Fraport used front companies, or dummies, to circumvent the foreign ownership limit law, known here as "anti-dummy" laws. It also said Fraport admitted during ICSID hearings that its direct and indirect stakes in PIATCO had reached 61%.

PIATCO officials responded in a statement saying that the Aquino government's lawyers are in "cahoots with their favored business personalities" and that "it will use the anti-dummy charge as its last card". The PIATCO statement, signed by Moises Tolentino Jr, vice president for legal and administrative affairs, did not give specific names.

However, it is known in industry circles that the original proponent and losing bidder for the project was a consortium composed of some of the country's top tycoons, including mall magnates John Gokongwei and Henry Sy, banking tycoon Alfonso Yuchengco, real estate mogul Andrew Gotianun and Philippine Airlines' owner Lucio Tan - some of whom are known corporate allies with the Aquino administration.

Meanwhile, German ambassador Lortsch said that he had privately asked the Aquino administration to "facilitate a legal, fair and timely solution" and that Berlin preferred an out-of-court settlement to the conflict. He suggested that a negotiated settlement "would help boost the credibility of the administration and the economy".

In comparison, Lortsch noted that the late president Corazon Aquino, Benigno's mother, honored the international debts incurred during the disgraced Ferdinand Marcos regime - a not-so-veiled suggestion that Aquino should restore the terms of the original contract brokered under Ramos.

The airport dispute has affected the provision of German soft loans for the Philippines, including funds earmarked earlier for combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Lortsch downplayed reports in the local media that Germany was also reconsidering other financial assistance to the Philippines, including ongoing development and environment projects in Mindanao, to pressure the government over the dispute. Either way, bilateral relations and Aquino's credibility with foreign investors is sinking fast.

4. DOTC chief says 'Category 1 status within reach'
MANILA, Philippines – “We are leaving no stone unturned in getting back our Categoy 1 status,” declared Secretary Jose P. De Jesus of the Department of Transportation and Communications as he keynoted the 2nd Philippine Aviation Summit held at the Main Function Hall PAF Aerospace Museum Col. Jesus Villamor Airbase Pasay City, on Jan. 19, 2011.

In a speech read for him by DOTC Undersecretary Glicerio Sicat, Secretary de Jesus said only two key remaining items remain to be accomplished for Philippine aviation to get back to its Category 1 status – and thus enable Philippine carriers to expand routes in the United States and to be allowed once again to land on European soil.

“We are leaving no stone unturned in improving, upgrading, expanding and modernizing all aspects of Philippine aviation,” the secretary pointed out.

“The good news is that we are only a few steps away from getting back our Category 1 status,” De Jesus said.

De Jesus also cited a feasibility research entitled “Greater Capital Region Airport Rationalization Study” on a planned integration of operations of the NAIA in Metro Manila and the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) in Clark, Pampanga.

The scope of the study includes three key areas: analysis of issues on airport development in Metro Manila, formulation of an optimum airport security plan; and preparation of a development plan for DMIA and NAIA.

He added that the aviation sector is being geared up “for the next challenge which is the Open Skies policy that may govern our flying community whether in its pure or altered form.”

The Transportation chief also said changes in the aviation sector include strengthening the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) by separating its operational functions from its regulatory duties, resulting in “efficient, responsive, and even caring airport operations.”

“It is a maxim of good governance that the functions of regulation shall be distinct and separate from the purely operational in order to install a built-in check-and-balance system within one sector,” the secretary stressed.

De Jesus recently appointed seven aviation professionals to key posts in the CAAP while its database undergoes modernization “for easy access and retrieval” of vital information about Philippine aviation.

The package of reforms unwrapped by De Jesus during the aviation conference also consisted of the commissioning of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 (NAIA3) for full commercial operations by yearend, and the construction or rehabilitation of many more international airports nationwide.

Underscoring the government’s thrust in developing further the country’s civil aviation sector, De Jesus described the projects he cited as “notable examples of our earnest and vigorous initiatives to build new international airports, to upgrade or modernize existing ones, and to pursue a sustainable program of airport improvements.”