Philippine Airlines : PR : PAL

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PAL buys 4 new long-haul birds

Philippine Airlines has placed an order for four new B-777 jumbo jets that can cost the company around $4 billion based on the list price of $1 billion each.
The amount can be remarkably smaller as no airline buys aircraft at the listed price. It is not known, however, how much discount PAL will be given by Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer.
Jaime C. Bautista, president and chief executive of the national flag carrier, told Malaya Business Insight in a chance interview that the acquisition of the new jets will be financed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
According to Bautista, the acquisition of new aircraft is in preparation for an expected influx of tourists, particularly from the Asean region.
He said two of the new aircraft will be delivered around the middle of next year. The other two will be flown to the Philippines the following year. Each of the aircraft has a capacity of 370 passengers.
Bautista explained that the four new long-haul jets are also being readied for more destinations in the United States and Europe. He said, however, that authorities in these two passenger-rich destinations will allow this only after civil aviation authorities have upgraded the Ninoy Aquino International Airport from Category II to Category I.
"Upgrading is in the works," Bautista said.
The national flag carrier has 37 aircraft used in international and domestic operations. Bautista said that the acquisition of new aircraft will modernize the fleet to state-of-the-art category.
He explained that the jumbo B-747s on dry lease are used to fly to San Francisco and Los Angeles in California. They also fly to Cebu when smaller aircraft are overbooked, Bautista said.
PAL has been flying to Vancouver, Canada, and has obtained authority to fly passengers from that Canadian city to Las Vegas.
The routes to the US are fertile, according to Bautista. He explained that under an open skies agreement with the United States, PAL can fly to any destination in that country.
However, he said, civil aviation authorities in the US demand that the airport in the Philippines be upgraded from Category II to Category I. The categories are determined for safety reasons by the US Federal Aviation Administration.
He pointed out that PAL has been blacklisted in Europe for safety reasons. In fact, he said, European Union civil aviation authorities do not allow passengers to fly from Europe and take PAL for a connecting flight to Manila.
According to Bautista, the administration of President Aquino will give high priority to the upgrading of NAIA from Category II to Category I. He explained that the upgrade is not all about installation of more modern communications equipment.
He said that a survey made by the FAA as early as 2007 reported that the record-keeping of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines "is a mess." The manuals have not been updated for years, Bautista said.
On top of that, he said, European and US aviation officials demand that CAAP hire more experienced check pilots who will examine the physical and mental alertness of pilots before they fly.
After the four new jets are delivered, PAL will have 41 aircraft. It employs 7,500 people. On the average, Bautista said, PAL has 180 personnel per plane. On the other hand, Cebu Pacific has 67.
Bautista said the number of pilots and cabin crew of PAL is close to the world average. He said there are just too many ground personnel, which raises the payroll costs and effectively eats into what otherwise could be profits of the airline.
That is why, he said, the airline came up with a plan, approved by Labor Secretary Remedios Baldoz and affirmed by President Aquino, to transfer 2,600 employees to three non-PAL companies with similar benefits.
In fact, in affirming the ruling of the labor secretary, President Aquino doubled the gratuity pay from P50,000 to P100,000. All told, the spin-off will cost PAL about P2.7 billion in benefits. This amount is far higher than what the law requires and even bigger than the benefits specified under the collective bargaining agreement.
The civil aviation authorities in Europe and the US, Bautista said, do not relish the fact that PAL and the other airlines are not independently audited by check pilots of civil aviation authorities.
At present, he said, there are very few such check pilots employed by the CAAP. Because of the shortage, pilots of PAL check their fellow pilots before flying. Bautista said Europe and the United States demand that check pilots should be independent and are responsible to the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and not working for any airline.
Lucio Tan, chairman of PAL whose group nearly completely owns the national flag carrier, has volunteered to hire foreign technical experts to help CAAP upgrade the NAIA to Category I.
It is presumed that these technical people will be hired with the consent of the CAAP. Bautista said there should be no problem in that respect because the CAAP will save money in engaging the services of the technical experts and that Tan has done a thorough survey on who are most highly qualified.
Bautista declined to say how much Tan will spend on these experts. He merely said "we want to promote tourism in the Philippines as expected by President Aquino."
The perception of independence is removed when pilots of an airline check one another. But Bautista said the CAAP has not hired enough independent check pilots who are necessarily under its employ.
A source in the local civil aviation business hinted Malaya Business Insight that check pilots who must necessarily have long flying experience are reluctant to join CAAP because the salaries are low.
Civil aviation authorities in the Philippines have practically closed their eyes to the necessity of modernizing the airports but the government continues to mount a campaign to attract tourists to the country.
Elsewhere in the world, each airline has its own terminal. In the Philippines, only PAL has Terminal II as practically its own.
The rest of the airlines use the old terminal. Terminal III, built by Philippine International Air Transport Corp. in joint venture with Fraport AG of Germany, was supposed be a world-class airport.
Unfortunately, so many things went wrong with the project. The structural defects discovered by independent engineers have not been corrected.
So far, only Cebu Pacific uses Terminal III. The supposedly new airport is so defective it is literally falling apart, parts of the roofs anyway.

MANILA, Philippines

Philippine Airlines Inc. plans to order at least 100 new planes, resume flights to Europe and bolster US services
after selling a stake to San Miguel Corp.

The carrier’s two main owners will provide $1 billion to help fund the fleet plan, Ramon Ang, president of the airline and of San Miguel, said in an interview in Manila yesterday.

San Miguel will inject $750 million in PAL and affiliate Air Philippines Corp., including a $500 million stake purchase, while billionaire Lucio Tan will deliver the rest, he said.

“PAL will institute more improvement, offer a better service and fly newer planes,” said Ang, who’s a qualified pilot. “PAL is a good company – despite the problems, it’s always been above water.”

The carrier wants to join a global alliance, Ang said, to spread its international reach and to help compete with Singapore Airlines Ltd. and Emirates Airline on long-haul routes.

San Miguel may also build an airport near Manila to help the airline improve services and to extend its own push away from a traditional focus on food and beverages, Ang said.

The 100 new planes, including single-aisle and twin-aisle models, will be divided across PAL and Air Philippines.

Ang didn’t say how many aircraft the carriers would retire.

The group will do more business with Boeing Co. than previously, he said, without elaboration.

“Philippine Airlines has problems, but once they fix it, they could enhance its market share,” said Jomar Lacson, an analyst at Campos Lanuza & Co. Inc. The brand itself is a “powerful asset.”

Philippine Air’s long-haul expansion plans depend upon the Philippines improving safety standards, Ang said.

The country is blacklisted by the European Union and has a Category 2 rating from the US Federal Aviation Administration, meaning it doesn’t meet international regulations.

PAL will “immediately” resume flights to Europe once Philippine carriers are allowed in, Ang said, listing Paris, London and Spain as possible destinations.

In the US, the carrier is looking at New York, Chicago and Florida, he said. It already flies to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Vancouver in North America.

PAL has 37 aircraft, according to its website. The fleet includes seven Boeing jets and 30 made by Airbus SAS.

San Miguel started looking at an investment in PAL, then controlled
by Tan, about a year ago, Ang said.

The 71-year-old carrier was seeking new funds after losing market share to budget airline Cebu Pacific.

PAL reported losses in the first three quarters of the fiscal year that
started April 2011.

The carrier, which cut 2,400 jobs when it outsourced catering and other ground services, will add workers as it expands, Ang said. PAL may also hand domestic and short regional flights to Air Philippines, while it focuses on long-haul, full- service trips, Ang said.

SEVRIEN a écrit:Bonjour, chers tous.

Il semblerait que Philippine Airlines (PAL) envisage de commander des "douzaines d'avions d'Airbus".
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Philippine Airlines to Order "Several Dozen" Airbus Planes -Sources

Published August 24, 2012
Dow Jones Newswires

Philippine Airlines Inc. is set to place an order for "several dozen" Airbus (ABI.YY) jets next week, the single biggest order to be made by the country's largest full-service carrier, people familiar with the deal said Friday.

They said that top executives of PAL, as the airline is more popularly known, and the European aircraft manufacturer will meet with members of the media next week to discuss the details of the transaction. "The deal will involve new orders for fleet expansion," one of the people said.

Très intéressant !

It isn't clear yet what type of Airbus jets PAL will order.

PAL To Order Airbus A321s, A330s

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Philippine Airlines (PAL), which recently underwent an ownership change, plans to order a large number of Airbus A321s and A330s.

Industry executives say PAL, which is already an Airbus A319/A320 and A330-300 operator, has decided to stay with Airbus. One of the executives said a decision will be announced as early as Aug. 28, but others say it may take longer to announce because no firm contract has been signed yet. Three industry executives say the order will be for 10 A330s and around 44 A321s. No decision has been made yet on the engines, the three executives add.

The A321 order includes some A321Neos, one of the executives says. But the bulk of the A321s on order are likely to be for the existing model, because two of the executives say PAL – as part of the deal – has secured first deliveries of the A321s in 2013.

An Airbus spokesman declined to comment when contacted by Aviation Week. PAL’s spokesman was unavailable for comment and failed to respond to emails sent by Aviation Week.

PAL President Ramon Ang, who is also the president of Filipino conglomerate San Miguel Corp., has said in recent months that he has been negotiating with Airbus and Boeing about placing a large aircraft order.

San Miguel bought 49% of PAL Holdings in April from Filipino billionaire Lucio Tan, and part of the deal was that San Miguel would help PAL to renew its fleet. According to the Aviation Week Intelligence Network, PAL’s narrowbodies are powered by CFM International and all its widebodies, with the exception of its CFM-powered Airbus A340s, use General Electric. The carrier has four Airbus A319s, 14 Airbus A320s, eight Airbus A330s, four Airbus A340-300s, three Boeing 777-300ERs and five Boeing 747-400s, it says.

PAL’s decision to go with the higher capacity A321 is significant, because it currently has no A321s. However, PAL’s largest local competitor, Cebu Pacific Air, has ordered A321s, and that carrier’s CEO-advisor, Garry Kingshott, has said publicly that slot constraints at Manila airport mean the importance of the larger capacity narrowbody “cannot be underestimated.” The fact that the A321 has more seats than an A320 means PAL may plan to also use the aircraft to replace some of its widebodies on short-haul international routes. PAL, for example, operates A340s and 747-400s from Manila to Hong Kong. The A321 has a much lower operating cost than the aging, four-engine widebodies.

As for PAL’s decision to order more A330s, it may be a sign that it is getting ready to eventually take its 777-300ERs off medium-haul Asia Pacific routes, such as those it serves from the Philippines to Australia and Tokyo. PAL originally ordered the 777-300ERs for routes to the U.S.

Some industry executives say Airbus’s sudden ability to provide PAL with 2013 delivery slots for A321s may be the “trump card,” which explains why PAL has gone with Airbus rather than Boeing. Prior to the PAL competition, it was widely thought among airlines, aircraft equipment suppliers and aircraft leasing companies that there were no more 2013 delivery slots available for A320-family and 737 aircraft. If it is correct that Airbus has 2013 delivery slots available, then it may be a sign that some other carriers have either canceled some orders, decided to delay taking delivery of aircraft or want to sell their delivery slots.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has placed a firm order for 54 Airbus aircraft in a deal worth $7 billion at list price.

The order includes 34 Airbus A321s, 10 Airbus A321neos and 10 Airbus A330-300s.

The aircraft, purchased as part of PAL's major fleet modernisation plan, are scheduled to be delivered starting in the second half of 2013.

The first A321neo is expected to be delivered in 2017.

Engine selections for the aircraft have not been announced.

PAL will operate the A321s on domestic and regional routes, enhancing the flag carrier's product, as well as support alliances with its partner airlines, Airbus said in a statement.

The A330 widebodies will, meanwhile, be operated on "higher demand regional routes" and longer range services to the Middle East and Australia, the airframer added.

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© Airbus

"The orders we are placing with Airbus will play a key role in revitalising PAL, while growing trade and tourism in the country," PAL chairman Lucio Tan said in a statement.

"With these aircraft, we will be able to offer more passengers the industry has to offer across out Asia-Pacific network. At the same time, we will benefit from the low operating costs associated with new generation aircraft and the reduced impact on the environment."

Over the last few years, PAL has struggled to cope with the emergence of budget carrier Cebu Pacific, which now has the largest market share in the Philippines. The carrier had previously said that it wants to retire many of its older and uneconomical widebodies and replace them with a new fleet to compete more effectively on the long-haul markets. The aim is to purchase 100 new aircraft in total, PAL president Ramon Ang has reportedly said.

The order comes after Philippine conglomerate San Miguel Corp bought a 49% stake in the carrier with a $500 million injection earlier this year.

PAL operates a fleet of 38 aircraft with A319s, A320s, A330s, A340s, Boeing 747-400s and Boeing 777-300s.

PAL Picks P&W, Rolls-Royce For New Airbus Fleets

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Philippine Airlines (PAL), a longtime General Electric customer, will switch to Pratt & Whitney (P&W) and Rolls-Royce (R-R) engines for its recently ordered Airbus fleets.

All of PAL’s existing widebodies utilize engines developed by GE and the airline’s current narrowbody fleet is powered by CFM, a joint venture of GE and France’s Snecma.

But industry sources tell AviationWeek PAL has chosen P&W’s International Aero Engine (IAE) V2500s to power the 34 A321s just ordered from Airbus.

These sources also say the airline has opted for P&W’s Geared Turbofan (GTF) for the 10 A321NEOs also included in the new order and R-R Trent 700s for 10 A330s-300s.

First deliveries of PAL’s new A330 are scheduled for the second half of 2013.

It is unclear why PAL decided to switch, although sources say P&W has been aggressively marketing the IAE V2500 and GTF.

In February, India’s GoAir chose the GTF engine to power A320NEOs on order, even though its current-model A320s are CFM-powered.

PAL’s spokesman was unavailable and both engine makers would not comment on the engine choices, which have not been officially announced.

Philippine conglomerate San Miguel bought 49% of PAL Holdings in April from Lucio Tan. As part of the deal, San Miguel chief Ramon Ang became president of the airline.