THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said it hopes to receive a report by late this week detailing the findings of an investigation into Cebu Pacific, amid ongoing hearings by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) on the carrier’s recent spate of flight cancellations.
Transportation Secretary Arthur P. Tugade told reporters Tuesday he has given the aviation regulator 10 days to submit a report on its ongoing hearings with Cebu Pacific operator Cebu Air, Inc., and from there will decide what to do moving forward.
“Sinabi ko 10 days. Magsa-submit sila ng report sakin. Ayaw kong pangunahan ’yung imbestigasyon… Ang gusto ko nga Biyernes mag-submit na sila [I said 10 days. They will submit a report to me. I don’t want to preempt the investigation. I actually want them to submit by Friday],” he told reporters in a chance interview Tuesday.
“Next week lalabas ’yung report. Doon sa report at resulta, ’yun ang magbabase kung anong gagawin natin [The report will be released next week. Based on the report and the result (of the investigation), we will decide what to do next],” Mr. Tugade added.
The CAB has conducted two formal hearings with Cebu Pacific since last week — on May 2 and May 6 — to investigate the airline’s decision to cancel flights starting late April.
Cebu Pacific has been canceling “approximately 10 flights a day” in May, and earlier canceled 23 flights from April 28 to 30, due to an “unprecedented level of disruption” to its operations.
It told the stock exchange last week the reduction in daily flights, particularly those using Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), is intended to “create space in its schedule for operational recovery.”
Last week, the CAB requested the Gokongwei-controlled carrier to submit a process analysis of its operations, which it was saying was the reason for its flight cancellations.
Asked for an update after Monday’s hearing, CAB Executive Director Carmelo L. Arcilla was not able to respond at deadline time.
Cebu Pacific also declined to comment pending the release of the CAB report.
Cebu Air shares lost P0.30 or 0.37% to close at P81.05 Tuesday. — Denise A. Valdez
