Philippine Airlines suffers US setback
MANILA – Philippine Airlines may delay a plan to add flights to Guam, San Francisco and Los Angeles after US regulators lowered the Southeast Asian nation’s air-safety rating.
Bloomberg reported that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lowered the Philippines’ aviation safety rating to Category 2 from Category 1 “due to serious concerns,”about local regulation of airlines, the US Embassy said.
US nationals were advised to fly to and from the Philippines on airlines regulated by Category 1 countries.
While Philippine carriers may continue current flights, they’ll be under “added surveillance,” the embassy said.
The airline can only add to its current 33 flights to the US by leasing planes and hiring pilots from a carrier regulated by a Category 1 country, company spokesman Rolando Estabillo said.
Philippine Airlines said it entered into similar leasing arrangements from 1994 to 1996 following a rating cut, resulting in “heavy losses.”
The only Philippine carrier with flights to the US planned to expand its Guam service by May and its San Francisco and Los Angeles flights by year-end, company president Jaime Bautista said in Manila.
“We won’t be able to sustain growth in the US in the coming fiscal year,” Bautista said.
US and Canadian flights account for a fifth of total sales.
The airline plans to start serving New York, Seattle and other US cities when six Boeing 777-300ER planes it had agreed to purchase and lease begin arriving in September 2009.
Ian Jarrett
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