Airliners.net

First time poster, long time reader/browser. (since 2002!) I've been following the past few years, a lot of North American along with Asian, specificically, Philippine aviation news, so I'm finally glad to be able to contribute. I know there is a separate philippine thread, but I thought this is significantly larger news to have its own.

But anyways,

Philippine Airlines is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a new slogan, ad campaign as well as jingle with some of the Philippines biggest musicians. The most prominent being Lea Salonga.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqvQYIII2bM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YxA1gf09Mo


They are not only celebrating their anniversary, they also formally launched their ambitions to be a 5 Star Carrier by 2020. Starting with a A330 refurbishment of their mono-class aircraft. The cabin plan is for somewhere around 311 encompassing Economy, Premium Economy and Business. This is inline with their acquisition of A350s recently announced.
Over the next 4 or so years, emphasis will be on service improvements, onboard technology and route expansion. One of the first things i've read is that they are offering free 30 min (though not unlimited) WiFi for the next year to promote their onboard WiFi system.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/P...ines-reaches-for-the-Skytrax-stars
http://www.philstar.com/business/201.../pal-targets-5-star-status-5-years
http://www.aviationpros.com/press_re...acs-best-free-inflight-wi-fi-offer

On another forum, a photo of some cabin mockups for Business Class were on display for PAL. The contenders are Thompson Vantage XL and Zodiac Cirrus for Business class seats, though nothing has been formally announced.

They also plan to introduce a new European destination at some point with Paris, Amsterdam, Rome and Hamburg as potential destinations and within the next year, more 5th freedom destinations such as Taipei-Osaka as well as more Codeshares ( The latest one i'm seeing is Hawaiian Airlines.)

Lots of exciting news in the next few years!

Hahaha... Skytrax 5 star fixed requirement is a first class cabin... don't have that, then no 5 star for you!

Quoting eta unknown (Reply 1): Hahaha... Skytrax 5 star fixed requirement is a first class cabin... don't have that, then no 5 star for you!

You forgot to mention the large briefcase full of non sequential $100 bills left in the lavatory of the main Skytrax office.

I will add, this has been tried before by airlines from that region, the last being Garuda and their fabulous first class product (no sarcasm there, from the trip reports they did an amazing job) and they have all ended up in the same spot, losing money hand over fist.

The local economies just cannot support a premium airline, look how far MH has fallen over the last few years, long considered one of the best airlines in the world, the financial realities of the modern world (even before MH 370 and 17) meant that they had to lower their standards and cut routes.

The exception in the area has been Singapore Airlines, but even they have made cuts.

I'm sorry, as much as I would love to see PAL succeed, I just don't see it happening.

Too much hype over a pointless SkyTrax rating.

PAL can become a good airline in its own right, even if it means they're a 3/4-star SkyTrax airline.

Quoting eta unknown (Reply 1): Hahaha... Skytrax 5 star fixed requirement is a first class cabin... don't have that, then no 5 star for you!

Kingfisher had only J and Y, yet SkyTrax were happy to award them a 5-star rating during their time, so I ain't buying this.

Quoting jetwet1 (Reply 2): You forgot to mention the large briefcase full of non sequential $100 bills left in the lavatory of the main Skytrax office.

^This makes sense, however.

Just like their beautiful and welcoming home country, PAL has all the potential to be great. It's just that achieving it has always been an uphill battle. Their new ads do give us a glimmer of hope. however!

Tomas in SJC

[Edited 2016-03-16 12:38:47]

The two times I had flown PAL, the service was excellent. Now, both flights were short haul (HKG-MNL-HKG) but the level of service from the crew was phenomenal. I thought that the FAs on my flight were better than those on my flights on CX. Nice Recaro seats on their A320 as well.

Quoting jetwet1 (Reply 2): You forgot to mention the large briefcase full of non sequential $100 bills left in the lavatory of the main Skytrax office.

Can't happen.... from my personal experience (let's not go into details) that briefcase is facing the wrong way if you get the hint...

How about having new aircrafts will not single-handedly solve your over crowded-super dated-very messy terminal problem, the lack of good lounges problem, the terrible after-sales service problem, etc.

YLWbased

just a thought - why was the B777LR not offered to PR as additional fleet to its long haul? the commonality would have fast tracked its route expansions as compared to waiting for another aircraft type like the 350 in three years period? just wandering though.

Quoting airlinebuilder (Reply 9): why was the B777LR not offered to PR as additional fleet to its long haul?

Obviously, if amateurs on a website can see the sales opportunity, don't you think Boeing would too?

It's not like PR desperately wants 77Ls, and can't have any... they apparently thought than the A359 better fits their needs.

Quoting jetwet1 (Reply 2):

Somehow, I don't think they will sacrifice profitability over grandeur. Knowing that the Lucio Tan Group led the airline (though not necessarily all their fault) to the biggest corporate failure in Philippine history, I somehow see there will be a pragmatic approach to being luxurious, but also being cost efficient and flexible as an airline and be something along the lines of Lufthansa. The corporate fiscal philosophy of PAL will help guard it against it being excessive. Remember, PAL is privately owned, Garuda is a government crownpiece.

Quoting YLWbased (Reply 8):

Uh, they don't manage the terminals, the government does (quite poorly) and everything else are issues they have outlined, they are in the middle of improving on. Time will tell whether or not they do it successfully.

Quoting airlinebuilder (Reply 9):

Quoting LAX772LR (Reply 10):

Definately think the only reason they got 777s in the first place was they still had those cancelled B747 deposits from Boeing, otherwise I think It would have been much more competitive. With the A350 order, they probably were better able to not only get the range that they sought, They were able to secure better terms with Airbus price wise considering they deferred and cancelled some of those A321s and 5 of their original 20 A330 order.

[Edited 2016-03-19 18:22:32]

I believe PAL can be a 5-star airline eventually, but 2020 seems a little ambitious. I'd say at least 2023. But they are in a prim geopraphic location to provide great connections between the Americas and SE Asia, and MNL is a huge economic powerhouse in the region.

More power to them! I'd start to get a little worried if I were CX or SQ.

Quoting YLWbased (Reply 8): How about having new aircrafts will not single-handedly solve your over crowded-super dated-very messy terminal problem, the lack of good lounges problem, the terrible after-sales service problem, etc.

Although they can probably do very little about the terminal problem, it is significant. T-3 is a big step up, and the other two terminals are improving too. The BIG problem is trying to get between them. T-3 and T-4 are not really walk able and the trip between T-3 and the others can easily take 30-60 minutes or more, depending on traffic.

For pass travelers it deserves to be listed among the world's worst airports for pass travel. For revenue travelers, it's not so bad IF you don't have to change terminals.

Although MNL is in danger of being removed from the list of "Worlds worst airports" (with the improvements to T-1 and T-3), it's position is still safe for the time being.

Quoting Spiderguy252 (Reply 3): Too much hype over a pointless SkyTrax rating.

I think it all has to do with marketing. If you're going to market your airlines as five star carrier, you're going to want some alibis to back your claim.

Think about Apple. You're iPhone doesn't cost 500 dollars to make. It only costs 200. It's priced so high because of it's perceived value. Airlines are after perceived value because it helps sell tickets, and SkyTrax is a catalyst.

Quoting TWA772LR (Reply 12): More power to them! I'd start to get a little worried if I were CX or SQ.

Doubt that either has much to fear from PR, even at the top of its game.... if for nothing more than geography.

Maybe not in the grand scheme of things, but I have heard on other forums that PAL's reintroduction a few years ago to the Middle East, to cite an example, Impacted CX and its feed to its Middle East destinations. The economics of the Philippines are definitely changing along with PAL's increased marketing focus so while I don't see them being affected in the immediate future, I definately see PAL being having an effect Medium to Long term, especially since Philippine carriers are the most profitable other than SQ, in the ASEAN region and have learned to stay competitive. The rise of VN, GA and PR, along with the rest of the emerging markets I think, are definately going to change the game sooner or later.

Happy 75th Birthday, Philippine Airlines!

My first ever airplane ride was with PAL on her DC-10 from Manila to San Francisco via Guam and Honolulu. That was way back in 1979!

There is so much potential in you to be an even greater airline than you already are. May your leadership be visionary, and may your employees be inspired to do their best to elevate PAL to the highest levels of service and safety.

MABUHAY!

Quoting fusionliner (Reply 11): Somehow, I don't think they will sacrifice profitability over grandeur. Knowing that the Lucio Tan Group led the airline (though not necessarily all their fault) to the biggest corporate failure in Philippine history, I somehow see there will be a pragmatic approach to being luxurious, but also being cost efficient and flexible as an airline and be something along the lines of Lufthansa. The corporate fiscal philosophy of PAL will help guard it against it being excessive. Remember, PAL is privately owned, Garuda is a government crownpiece.

Let me put it in a slightly different way.

LAX-CEB-LAX, 30 hours of flight, in business, $4400 on PAL


LAX-LHR-LAX, 20 hours of flight, in business, $6300 on VS

My point is, i'm not saying that PAL cannot be a 5 star airline, but by definition to be a 5 star there has to be some of that grandeur (that is probably the wrong word but I hope you get my meaning) and yes, in part the staffing costs will be lower, BUT, they will not be low enough to absorb that yield difference of $1900 for 10 hours more flying.

BTW, this is not bashing PAL, after this thread started I talked to some Filipino employees and guests, they all commented on how good PAL is already, so, honestly, I wish them the best of luck, I just don't want to see them self destruct thanks to some ideas of grandeur that it's market cannot support.