Cebu Pacific senior officials decide to take pay cut

BUDGET carrier describes pay cut as the ‘right thing to do’ amid the impact of coronavirus. — BW FILE PHOTO

By Arjay L. Balinbin, Reporter

SENIOR management officials of Cebu Pacific have decided to take a pay cut as the coronavirus outbreak continues to affect the budget carrier’s operations.

“I can confirm that our senior management [officials] will be taking a pay cut,” Cebu Pacific Director for Corporate Communications Charo L. Lagamon told BusinessWorld in a phone interview on Monday.

Asked by how much, she said: “I’m not privy to the exact details, but suffice to say that it is the right thing to do.”

The move came after flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) announced on Feb. 28 that it had cut about 300 jobs as a way to recover from its 2019 losses, which worsened in the first two months of 2020 due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Both PAL and Cebu Pacific have cancelled flights between China, Hong Kong, Macau, and parts of South Korea amid travel restrictions because of the outbreak.

PAL, operated by PAL Holdings, Inc., said it was “pursuing business restructuring to increase revenues and reduce costs.”

It added that it was hoping that “the streamlining will strengthen the company in the wake of losses sustained in 2019, aggravated by the ongoing travel restrictions and flight suspensions to areas affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019).”

To help them recover from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, Philippine airport authorities on Monday said that payments for take-off, landing and parking would be deferred for local carriers.

The Air Carriers Association of the Philippines, Inc. said last month that it was expecting to issue about P3 billion worth of ticket refunds in the next two months after the Philippine travel ban on China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

In a related development, Dubai-based carrier Emirates Airline introduced on Monday a waiver policy for all booked tickets issued on or from March 7 until March 31, 2020. The airline said its intention was to allow its customers to change their travel dates without change and reissuance charges.

“Customers can change their booking to any date for travel within an 11-month date range in the same booking class without change penalties. Difference in fare, if applicable, applies. The policy covers all existing destinations across the Emirates network,” it said.