THE CIVIL Aeronautics Board (CAB) is set to release this month the approved guidelines on penalizing airlines with more than 50% of their flights cancelled or delayed.
“It was approved during the last board meeting on the 24th [of Oct.],” CAB Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla told reporters on Oct. 29, referring to the new regulations on flight delays and cancellations.
“Ipa-publish na namin (by November), kasi na-approve ‘yun last Thursday (Oct. 24) (The rules will be published by November since they were approved last Thursday), so it will be signed within probably the week after they signed it.”
As for the features of the new regulations, he said: “We will be penalizing or modifying the approval of airlines who would be found to have more than 50% of their flights delayed or cancelled for whatever reason.”
He said airlines that incur delays and cancellations for more than 50% of the time, regardless whether such actions are made due to technical or force majeure conditions, will be required to review their plans. Such flights, he added, could also be removed.
“You have to go back to the drawing board…kasi (because) it is not viable,” Mr. Arcilla said.
“For example, there was a time when an airline in the Philippines was operating six flights to Caticlan, and the last flight was always delayed and cancelled because of sunset limitations. We were flooded with complaints. At some point in time, we said, ‘You know the six flights are not operationally viable. You have to review your plans.’ Ultimately, we removed that flight, so ‘yun ang essence niyan (that will be the essences of the new rules).”
Asked if there are monetary penalties or if airlines could face possible suspension, he said: “Meron (Yes), on a case to case basis. It depends on the gravity.”
Last July, the CAB started requiring local airlines to submit a monthly report of their on-time performance to help the regulator evaluate operational efficiency at the country’s gateways.
The on-time performance is measured by the number of departures and arrivals that take off and land within 15 minutes from schedule, as well as flight cancellations. — Arjay L. Balinbin
