We are sorry, the requested page does not exist
Delays, cancellations experienced in all airlines — group
United Filipino Global (UFG) president Gemma Sotto cited the prevalence of flight delays and cancelations among Overseas Filipino Worker travelers in all local and international airline companies......»»
Senate tackles airlines’ booking glitches, offloading mess
Growing complaints from various passengers against budget carrier, Cebu Pacific’s overbooking, offloading, and booking glitches have reached the Senate inquiry on Wednesday. This came after Senate committee chairperson, Senator Nancy Binay, filed Senate Resolution No. 575 pushing for an investigation on the customers’ complaints against Cebu Pacific due to recent flight cancellations. During the hearing, Binay said her office was able to compile at least 3,000 complaints from the passengers, which have been aired through social media platforms. “We have since seen it fit to invite our other airlines to this hearing because these problems, it seemed, have only grown in number. Our passengers face inconveniences on multiple fronts on account of flight delays, cancelations, offloading, and overbooking,” Binay stressed. Overseas worker, James Bartolome, said he has yet to receive his refund from Cebu Pacific after his flight going to Qatar was canceled. After knowing that his original flight was canceled, Bartolome opted to book another airline as the budget carrier won’t be able to give him an earlier flight. Senator JV Ejercito said the airport and airline operations will provide the “first and last impressions” to the tourists and potential investors entering the country. “We need to systematize this for our tourism and business climate,” he said, sharing that he was not even spared from experiencing flight delays. Binay emphasized the need to identify problems and immediately craft strategies to prevent similar complaints in the future. Senator Christopher “Bong” Go said that Cebu Pacific and other similar airline companies should acknowledge the impacts of flight cancellations and other airline mess. “Incidents like these could discourage tourists so this hearing should serve as a platform to air the grievances of the frustrated and helpless passengers,” Go said, citing that these may affect the country’s tourism industry and the economy. “Remember that we are still reviving from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added. Go said the airlines must immediately act and rectify these issues by imposing proper mechanisms for compensating affected passengers—which includes food provisions during flight cancellation and alternative flight schedules. During the hearing, several Cebu Pacific passengers also complained about apparent website errors that resulted in them being charged multiple times for transactions yet it appeared to be unsuccessful. Cebu Pacific chief marketing and customer experience officer, Candice Iyog, explained that there is a part of the flow where if a passenger clicks proceed, it commits the changes even before the passenger pays. “We recognize that and we are taking that feedback as well,” Iyog said. The Cebu Pacific, she added, is already working on “a fix or an enhancement” to the interface of the website, which will likely be ready at the end of this month. “Depending on when it's ready, we're looking at possibly, end of July that we will be able to implement this change in the user experience,” she said. Senator Risa Hontiveros lamented that in several instances when passengers’ original flights were canceled, Cebu Pacific offered flight rebooking and passengers were immediately made to pay before they could confirm their purchase of travel tickets. Citing a passenger’s experience, the airline’s website technical issue made them pay a bill of P16,000-worth of add-ons after availing of Cebu Pacific’s free rebooking option, following the cancellation of flights. Iyog said they recently reminded their customer service agents to allow passengers to get back to their original flight or to remove add-ons that were “accidentally added.” “We don’t want to cancel flights for our passengers. It’s bad business and we don’t want to disrupt our passengers—that’s why we give options,” Iyog noted. Tougher passengers’ rights Meanwhile, Senator Grace Poe slammed the budget carrier for lacking customer service agents directly responding to these complaints. Poe called on for a tougher policy on air passengers' rights to address the cancellations and delays in flights by local airlines besetting travelers. "This pressing public service issue calls for urgent effective solutions as it involves not only the air passengers' rights but also the overall impact on the country's tourism and economy,” she added. While overbooking is a globally accepted practice, Poe said "systematic delays and cancellations are not." Also, Hontiveros pressed that the government agencies should step in to prevent more passengers from being disrupted in their travels due to canceled, rescheduled, and delayed flights in Cebu Pacific and other airline companies. “These kinds of inconveniences disrupt the travel experiences also of tourists, and as the chair said, could negatively affect the tourism sector,” she added. Aside from the reported overbooking, offloading, booking, and flight cancellations, Senator Raffy Tulfo said that adding extra flights daily amid lacking proper airplane maintenance can be called “abuses of the airline companies.” He lamented that it could pose danger and compromise the safety of all airline passengers, “There were safety issues surrounding the uploading, overbooking, and flight cancellations of airlines. If these airlines don’t care about fulfilling their obligations to provide air transport for their passengers, I will not be surprised that they are cutting corners when it comes to safety as well,” Tulfo pressed on. Tulfo said extra flights can also cause fatigue in pilots and flight attendants. For his part, Senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa wants the Civil Aeronautics Board to become proactive in resolving the massive airline mess in the country. Dela Rosa asked CAB if it is amenable to institutionalize the Air Passenger Bill of Rights in order to protect the public from erring airline companies. "What is your position? Do you agree with the proposal to create a law that will institutionalize the Air Passenger Bill of Rights?" asked Dela Rosa. In response, CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla, said they have been very supportive of the proposal. “But it seems it is not among the priorities of Congress,” he said. Dela Rosa said he is mulling to proposed the bill in the Senate “not to discourage the airline industry but to protect the public interest. The post Senate tackles airlines’ booking glitches, offloading mess appeared first on Daily Tribune......»»
BI wants probe of airline worker for human trafficking
An airline employee is suspected of aiding illegal recruiters and human traffickers by helping facilitate the travel of their Filipino victims out of the country, the Bureau of Immigration said yesterday......»»
Worker dies in North Cotabato grenade blast
A sugarcane plantation worker was killed while three others were wounded when a fragmentation grenade exploded in a village in Matalam, North Cotabato on Thursday night......»»
Billionaire Thiele, Lufthansa& rsquo;s biggest investor, dies at 79
Berlin, Germany—German billionaire Heinz Hermann Thiele, the biggest shareholder in Lufthansa airline, died Tuesday aged 79, announced Knorr-Bremse, the company through which he built his fortune......»»
Barangay health worker dies from Covid as 999 new cases recorded
THE Philippines recorded 999 coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to 38,511, the Department of Health (DoH) said. Of the new cases, 595 were registered as fresh, of which 175 came from the National Capital Region or Metro Manila, 134 from Region 7 or Central Visayas, and 286 from other regions. At least 404 were marked as late cases […].....»»
Housemaid dies while waiting for bus ride to Bicol
Stranded worker Michelle Silvertino died while waiting for a bus ride on her way home to her family in Camarines Sur on Friday......»»
Lapu-Lapu accident: Motorcycle rider killed in road collision in Pajac
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — A 30-year-old man was killed in an accident that happened early on Sunday morning on H-Mall Road in Barangay Pajac, Lapu-Lapu City. The victim was identified as Roger Valiente, a resident of Sitio Abuna in the same barangay. ALSO READ: Lapu-Lapu accident: Rider dies after his motorcycle slams into parked truck.....»»
Extolling the underrated Ernie de la Peña
Singer and songwriter Ernie de la Peña was that rare kind of music worker......»»
Eric Carmen, the Raspberries frontman and ‘All by Myself’ and Hungry Eyes singer, dies at 74
Eric Carmen, the Raspberries frontman and ‘All by Myself’ and Hungry Eyes singer, dies at 74.....»»
Worker shortage, rising costs to slow healthcare growth
The expansion of the country’s healthcare industry may slow this year on rising costs and shortage of medical practitioners even as the demand for health services among Filipinos is on an uptrend......»»
Filipino cruise worker arrested in Florida for planting spy cameras in bathroom
A 34-year-old Filipino cruise ship worker accused of hiding cameras to spy on guests was arrested at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale Florida over the weekend. According to federal documents, Arvin Joseph Mirasol, a stateroom attendant in Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas has been planting hidden cameras in a bathroom and targeting the guests,.....»»
Lapu-Lapu killing: Construction worker stabbed dead by man with 23-inch bolo
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — A 52-year-old construction worker died after he was stabbed by another construction worker in Purok Thunder, Timpolok, Barangay Babag in Lapu-Lapu City on Sunday evening, March 10, 2024. The victim was identified as Victor Franco Tolo, with a live-in partner, a resident of the place. READ: Senior citizen hacked to death.....»»
Woman poses as Interpol agent for overseas job
The Bureau of Immigration (BI) intercepted at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) a woman who pretended to be an Interpol agent in order to leave the country for a job as a household service worker in Thailand......»»
MMDA may ‘heat stroke break’ ulit para sa field personnel
RAMDAM niyo na ba ang mainit na panahon? Habang hindi pa idinedeklara ang tag-init season, ibabalik na ng Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) ang anti-heat stroke program. Ayon sa MMDA, muli nilang ipatutupad ang tinatawag nilang “heat stroke break” simula March 15 hanggang May 31. Ang layunin nito ay para protektahan ang mga field worker.....»»
Taylor Swift and the new Filipino
It comes to no surprise when almost every single budget airline, ours included, was filled with Swifties of all ages bound for Singapore......»»
Drug suspect dies in sting after jumping off window
A suspected drug pusher died after he jumped from a window when he resisted arrest in Davao City on Tuesday night......»»
Lapu-Lapu accident: Rider dies after his motorcycle slams into parked truck
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu— A 29-year-old motorist died after his motorcycle crashed into a dump truck on Tuesday, around 4:00 a.m., at the Marcelo Fernan Bridge in Barangay Pusok, Lapu-Lapu City. The motorcycle rider was identified as Randelo Escario Tayo, a resident of Kodia, Madredijos town in Bantayan Island. READ: Lapu-Lapu accident: 2 dead after motorcycle.....»»
Rider dies after crashing into stalled dump truck at 2nd Mandaue-Mactan bridge
Rider dies after crashing into stalled dump truck at 2nd Mandaue-Mactan bridge.....»»
Actress Jaclyn Jose dies at 60
(1st UPDATE) She was the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win best actress at the Cannes Film Festival, for her leading turn as a matriarch and meth dealer in Brillante Mendoza's 'Ma' Rosa'.....»»