HUNDREDS of airline passengers fumed as they loitered around the Mactan-Cebu International Airport after their flight to Manila was delayed purportedly because the plane they were supposed to board did not have pilots nor cabin crew.
Cebu Pacific Flight 5J-558 from Cebu to Manila, which was scheduled to depart the Mactan airport at 8:10 p.m. was delayed for more than two hours because they had to wait for pilots and cabin crew to fly in from Manila.
Despite the entreaties of Vice President Jejomar Binay and actor Richard Gomez, who were at the airport for a separate flight, passengers were enraged when they were not even informed about the delay.
Eventually, a Cebu Pacific ground crew at the MCIA announced there was a mix-up in schedules and the airline did not immediately realize that the pilots and crew who were assigned to Flight 5J-558 were actually on their day off and a new group had to be flown in from Manila.
The plane finally left the Mactan airport in Cebu after more than two and half hours of delay, but affected passengers demanded that the Civil Aeronautics Board conduct an investigation and implement measures that would prevent the repetition of such an incident.