Cebu Pacific to shrink in size as demand remains low

CEBU Pacific said the new business landscape created by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic requires far less manpower.

Cebu Pacific, operated by Cebu Air, Inc. (CEB), said in a statement on Thursday that its management had decided to cut 800 jobs by August.

“Over the past several weeks, CEB has had to review and redefine its long-term plans around the changing needs of customers, employees and the travel industry as a whole. It was clear after this process that CEB was too big for the operational requirements and expected new norms in the industry,” the budget carrier said.

It said the decision was necessary in order to fulfill the airline company’s long-term commitment to provide “affordable and accessible” air transport services to the public.

Operations of the low-cost airline during the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine to contain a coronavirus disease were limited to cargo and sweeper flights.

Cebu Pacific resumed commercial operations on June 2.

“While operations continue to resume, the current number of flights account for less than 10% of the pre-quarantine network,” it said.

Cebu Pacific Director for Corporate Communications Charo L. Lagamon told BusinessWorld in a phone message on Thursday that the budget carrier continues to carry out various cost-cutting measures to cushion the impact of the pandemic crisis on the company.

She said as the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 worsened, the airline “took immediate steps to manage financial resources.”

“Projects that are not critical to improving operational efficiency or passenger experience were deferred. Pay cuts were implemented on Management to help augment salaries and allowances for other employees. New hires, promotions and salary adjustments were suspended. Across the entire organization, work schedules were reduced,” the airline said.

Cebu Pacific expects travel recovery to happen over a longer period, with the pandemic “negatively impacting” the entire aviation sector.

In March, the company decided to let go of its 150 newly hired flight attendants as reduced flights entail “less opportunity for them to gain in-flight experience.” — Arjay L. Balinbin