The Civil Aeronautics Board said Friday it expects to resolve the flight cancellations of Cebu Pacific by the end of the month.
“Hopefully the problem will be resolved by the end of the month. We are validating all the technical issues presented by Cebu Pacific to the CAB Board,” said CAB executive director Carmelo Arcilla.
Arcilla said Cebu Pacific cited traffic congestion in the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the depleting reserved crew as the reasons for the declining on-time performance of the airline.
“We will validate these allegations of Cebu Pacific. We will have another meeting on May 6,” he added
In an earlier advisory, Cebu Pacific and Cebgo said they were canceling 58 round-trip flights until May 10, 2019. This was on top to the more than 40 roundtrip flights that had been cancelled from April 28 to April 30 this year.
The airline said flight cancellations from April 27 to May 10 affected over 22,000 passengers.
The cancellation of flights was part of the ongoing effort to improve Cebu Pacific’s OTP and reduce inconvenience to passengers.
The airport congestion has contributed to the late arrivals of Cebu Pacific flights.
In a statement, Juan Wing Association of the Philippines, Cebu Pacific’s labor union, in a statement denied any labor issues with the airline’s management.
“Lately there seems to be misinformation and disinformation dragging the union to create disparity and confusion. JWAP is working side by side with Cebu Pacific Management and we stand firm with JWAP’s Mission-Vision: strengthening the bond between MGT and crew through a harmonious relationship for mutual growth and benefit,” JWAP said.
“As of the moment, the cabin crew are working to the best of their abilities to assist in easing up the situation. Our cabin crew are exhausting all means to make sure that all affected guests are genuinely accommodated and are safely flown to their destination but our priority remains on the completion of our CBA,” it added.
“JWAP commends our crew for they have gone above and beyond their call of duty. Particularly those who have given up their personal plans to assist in stabilizing the situation,” the labor union said.