Rich Chinese businessman bullies PAL cabin crew, denied entry to PH

By Ben R. Rosario
Published: June 1, 2013
This rich Chinese businessman picked the wrong Filipino to bully.

Forty seven year old tourist Biqing Liu found this out when he was denied entry to the Philippines and sent back on a first available flight to Pudong International Airport in Shanghai, China at 11:30 am on Saturday.

Biqing was accosted by three airport policemen at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport II immediately upon his arrival on Friday from Shanghai on board Philippine Airlines flight PR 337.

Philippine immigration authorities said Biqing was the subject of a complaint by PAL cabin crew members led by Josef Randall Tolentino who accused the Chinese tourist of rudeness and for trying to bully him before their takeoff at Pudong.

Tolentino recounted that while an stewardess was preparing hot face towels for passengers, Biqing “barged” into the galley and grabbed one hot towel by “reaching over the shoulders” of the crew.

He said Biqing then looked at him then whisked the hot towel towards his face thereby splattering the excess hot water “all over my face.”

Seeing what happened, flight purser Catherine Guinto politely asked Biqing against misbehaving inside the cabin but the Chinese national “maintained his rude and arrogant demeanor” that he even shouted at the Chinese interpreter and Shanghai airport ground staff members to apologize to the crew.

At this juncture, the crew decided to ask airport authorities to off load Biqing but their request was rejected.

Tolentino said he decided to file a formal complaint against Biqing upon their arrival at the NAIA 2.

“Upon reading the purser's report and hearing out my complaint, PAL and Immigration officers immediately processed the passenger for deportation on the first available flight back to PUdong,” he recounted in his Facebook post of the encounter with Biqing.

“Let this small act and incident show the people of China that they cannot mistreat Filipinos and get away with it!,” declared Tolentino, who turned out to be the son of retired Chief Supt. Ameto Tolentino, former regional commander of PNP Region II and Rowena Ponce Enrile, sister of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

“I’m proud of my roots but I am prouder to be a Filipino,” he told Manila Bulletin.

Manila Bulletin Article

Exciting news for legacy flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL)

Ever since San Miguel Corporation (SMC - one of the biggest conglomerate in the Philippines) bought 49% of  PAL, PAL is glowing tremendously! Losses are getting smaller and Profits are higher this year compared last year. My previous post: Reviving PAL reveals the biggest aviation deal done in Philippine History and that is made by PAL. Mr. Ramon Ang (president of SMC) is familiar with industry since he is a licensed pilot and trough the track record of San Miguel under his leadership, PAL is in good hands.

So what's new with PAL?

1) Re-Fleeting for Long-Haul Airplanes.
2) New destinations
3) Return to Europe
4) New Interiors

1) Re-Fleeting

PAL is currently on a major re-fleeting program in with their short-haul and medium-haul routes. PAL has an existing fleet of 45 aircraft composed of 19 Airbus A320s, 8 A330s, 4 A319s, 4 A340s, 5 Boeing B777-300ERs, and 5 Boeing 747s. PAL's order with airbus are: 34 A321ceos, 10 A321neos, and 10 A330s. It also has another $2.5 billion option to acquire 10 more A330 aircraft.- Rappler.com

When Cebu Pacific fully embraces being an LCC, they became the leading domestic carrier in the Philippines. Actually, If it weren't for CP airfares will not go down and maybe, Pinoys are still traveling by boat.


So it's Boeing for the wide bodies =)

PAL plans to initially acquire 10 Boeing 777X aircraft, the airline's president and CEO Ramon S. Ang told reporters on the sidelines of the 5th year anniversary celebration of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

“It depends on the price. We are looking at the new Boeing 777X. We will buy 10 and if it performs well, we’ll exercise an option for 10 more,” he said.

“We want those planes for our long-range flights,” he added. PAL captures the most international traffic among local competitors.

PAL is undergoing a major refleeting program that involves acquiring 100 new aircraft to cut fuel costs, which account for bulk of the airline's operating costs. The new aircraft feature feature more fuel efficient engine, bigger wings, and lighter cabins. - Rappler.com

I'm excited about all the news! PAL would be another pride for the Filipinos. However, the government should act fast in fixing our airports and the congestion at NAIA. Also, regaining the category 1 status imposes by the FAA and lifting the Ban of the Philippine Carriers to fly to Europe imposes by European Union. The good news is that ICAO have lifted the SSCs this year and more or less FAA and EU will follow.


2) New Destinations

In a kick-off ceremony on Friday, April 26, PAL announced 12 new destinations in the Philippines, Southeast Asia, China, Australia and the Middle East in its growing route network.

This is double the 6 routes it previously announced in March.

The following new routes will be operated from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in Manila using Boeing 777 aircraft:

Basco, Batanes in northern tip of the Philippines, starting May 1 (operated by PAL Express)
Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, starting May 2
Darwin, Brisbane and Perth (Australia), June 1
Guangzhou (China), June 2
Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, starting Oct. 1; and Dubai, by Nov. 1
Doha in Qatar, starting Nov. 1
Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam in Saudi Arabia, starring Dec. 1

PAL president Ramon Ang said the new routes are meant to address the needs of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), as well as that of the tourism market, which the Philippines is banking on as a new leg for economic growth.

PAL also will start introducing on board wifi services to the some of these new flights June onwards. By August, all their A330's will have wifi.

Also, PAL also launch new route to Sao Paulo, Brazil starting next year via Los Angeles (w/ 5th freedom rights).

- Rappler.com

3) Return to Europe

PAL plans to have direct access to key cities in Europe such as Paris, Milan, Rome, Madrid, and London as soon as the lifting of ban from the EU commission is set.

4) New Interiors

I have seen the new interiors for the Business class of PAL and It's so amazing! It's like first class! I will not post the picture here because I'm afraid of legal constraints =) Also, I don't want to spoil Mr. Ang's moment for PAL.

Photo courtesy of my good friend Mr. Kit Stephen Agad

Photo courtesy of Philippine Airlines.

Reviving Philippine Airlines (PAL)

PAL seals deal with Airbus.

Philippine Airlines announced orders for 10 new generation Airbus A330-300, 10 new generation Airbus 321 neo jets, and 34 Airbus 321 in a deal valued at US $7 billion, Ramon Ang, President of Philippine Airlines said in a press briefing today.

"The aim is to purchase 100 new aircraft in total", PAL president Ramon Ang said. Ten new aircraft has been delivered to the airline with the latest addition being the Boeing 777-300ER. Another one is set for arrival in November and 2 more 777 will join the fleet in 2013.

The 54 aircraft orders are part of the first phase of a multi-year refleeting and modernization plans, which involve the purchase of up to 100 new planes.

"We still have about 46 aircraft to go, we have the option about whichever types of aircraft to go. The capacity of the initial 54 aircraft is already more than what Philippine Airlines and Air Philippines today's capacity" said Ang.

Another deal for twenty long range wide body jets are expected to be announce soon with both Airbus and Boeing tightly on a race between Triple Seven and Three Fifty.

PAL is currently looking at are the 777-300 ER and the upcoming 777-X as well as the Airbus 350-900 and 350-1000 programme.

"Our intention is to buy up to 100 aircraft, 26 of that will be long range wide body," Ramon Ang said.

The new generation 240-tonne A330-300 recently announced at the 2012 Farnborough Airshow will start delivery next year as Boeing failed to sell its latest plane, the Boeing 787 series planes due to delivery issues with the aircraft manufacturer.

PAL has been looking closely at the Boeing 787-900 which they intend to buy rather than lease but suffered setbacks on its waiting time. Boeing also failed to win orders for its Boeing 737-900 planes as Airbus jockeyed its position to convince PAL to buy its narrow-body jets instead.

A source inside the airline disclosed that Airbus secured delivery slots in 2013 for PAL and that spells a huge difference. Consequently, Ang announced the first delivery to be done in January 2013 consisting of 4 A330s and 6 A321s.

“We are extremely pleased that PAL has placed its confidence in our aircraft to meet its future requirements,” said John Leahy, chief operating officer, Customers, Airbus.

“This announcement demonstrates once again the popularity of both the A320 Family and the A330, which remain leaders in their size categories in terms of operating economics, reliability and passenger comfort.” says Leahy.

Airbus said the A320neo Family incorporates latest-generation engines and large wingtip device called the"Sharklet" to deliver 15 percent fuel savings as compared to its old model.

Ang said that both Airbus and Boeing was in a tight contest until delivery schedule was laid in the table. The PAL CEO expects delivery of the airline's new order to be completed in three years with the new generation A330 joining next year. 

The A321-200 jets are expected to join the fleet of Airphil Express also starting in the second half of 2013 for trunk-line upgrade and regional destinations as Manila Airport closes airport slots for new aircraft. The A321 neo for PAL is expected for delivery in 2016. Engine selections for the aircraft is heavily favored on CFM International LEAP-X although have not been announced.

Meanwhile,  the new A330-300 will wear PAL colors to fly to "Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, The Middle East and India.

The carrier will start retiring its old Airbus wide bodies starting next year and replace them with a new fleet to compete more effectively on the long-haul markets. 

Listed PAL Holdings Inc.recently approved a capital increase that would allow it to issue new shares to raise 17 billion Philippine pesos ($403 million) for fleet acquisition. It re­ported a com­pre­hen­sive net in­come of P489.2 mil­lion. To­tal rev­enues for the first quar­ter of the cur­rent fis­cal year amounted to P20.8 bil­lion or 5.8 per­cent higher than last year’s P19.6 bil­lion.

Breakfast at Cafe France / Philippine Airlines A320-200

I bought my promo fare ticket going to cebu at the website of PAL last February and it costs me  around P2,400 or around $58 which is very very cheap considering a budget airline would normally costs same round trip fare ticket. I'm very pleased in what San Miguel Corp. is doing to win back the loyalty of passengers to PAL. 

NAIA T2 can be very congested especially during morning flights between 6am-10am. It was a big "Ugghh" upon enter NAIA T2. There are so many people standing in line to check in, to pay terminal fee, security check, Lines everywhere! it gets frustrating when you woke up early and haven't eaten your breakfast just to get to your gate but problem is: you have to go stand in line to different points just to get to your gate. When you get to your gate waiting seats are full. A big  UGGH!

Good thing our flight has no line, Check in was a breeze! after 5 min, and viola! check in!

What I like about PAL domestic is that you can ask the check in counter for seats near the front. 

Stand in line again for security

A PAL A330-300

Inflight Meal. So So sad. 

Good thing i bought a chicken salad from Cafe France at the airport. The salad was very ordinary considering the price was not that cheap. I wish Cafe France would do something about this.

Chunky Chicken Sandwich: I chose croissant bread since it's my fave and i love eating croissant bread when hot. The sandwich was pretty good and yummy. The filling was enough not to thick and not to thin, it was a little thick and very chunky indeed.

PAL's new A320-200 with new Recaro Seats. I can still smell it's factory smell.

I was so surprised that they provide inflight entertainment! I think this was Glee Season 2 or the Glee: Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was so impressed with PAL. That's why i never fly budget. 

landing at Mactan Cebu Airport

I'm always loyal to PAL, That's why i convert all my points to miles. Considering it's competitive price against budget carriers, and after horrid experience with cebu pacific, I vow never to fly budget again. But unfortunately, I'm booked for Hong Kong on October via AirAsia, and Bacolod via SeaAir. let's see if I'll be able to go back to Manila alive. :)

Love, Your PAL (Philippine Airlines)

As far as i can remember when i was younger, I travel a lot from luzon to visayas from air travel to sea travel. During the 90s, PAL is the emirates of asia, it competes with cathay pacific. I recall when i first fly with PAL, it was a B747 to Hong Kong and that was 1997. Back then, PAL was extremely a very classy airline. My grandfather had unlimited alcoholic beverages at that time. PAL Flight Attendants were very friendly, and many of them foreigners. Food serving was same but drinks were limited at this time.

Throughout the years and due to the asian financial crisis, PAL became a corporate failure. They had to downsize their route slashing half of their domestic route and terminating their long haul flights. 

last 2011, PAL went trough a very tough crisis with their ground staff. almost 2000 are lay offed and these positions are outsourced. Over the years, PAL have reported losses due to oil prices and weaker passenger rate. Also, it was the re-birth of Cebu Pacific in becoming a budget airline.

Browse the pictures below:

NAIA Terminal 2 (international)

PAL A320

Boarding Pass

My Plane A340 going to Bangkok

Old Drop-down Monitor

Cathay Pacific Cargo

Safety Manual

Hugo

Interior

Leg Room

Believe it or not, these was the exact look of PAL during the 90s. Although it's old but it was comfy and well maintained. The cabin pressure upon taxi was humid but upon take off, it goes back to cool temperature.

I was glad the load factor was 90% at that time.

The DOTC is boosting it's resources to address the congestion problem that is happening in NAIA. NAIA currently has 2 runway crossing each other.

PAL was awarded before as the most punctual airline in Asia, but apparently not anymore. It became a part of the delayed airlines in the country.

Honestly, when San Miguel Corp. bought 49% of PAL, i was thrilled. Finally! a bright future ahead. As of now, the airline is on their final stage of ordering wide body aircraft such as B787-8 (dreamliner) and B747-8 (intercontinental). Too bad they slash the A380 but rationally, no domestic airport can handle such besides NAIA and Clark Airport. The ne B787-8 and B747-8 will replace PAL's ageing wide body aircraft such as B747-400, A330 and A340. 

I hope CAAP address the Category 2 status of country.

With SMC in the picture, the future of Asia's First Airline will Shine Trough.

Air Travel

What the Philippine government lacks is the INITIATIVE.

there are zillions of complaints among low-cost carriers in the PH despite the ballooning growth in airline travel. Please note that Low-Cost carrier is different from Budget. Budget is you pay for everything (in foreign airlines, check-in baggage and use of toilet requires payment) and get measly quality service.

i have read tons of blogs and articles against these low cost carriers, some said: "you get what you paid for" which blatantly wrong. You pay for almost 2,000-4,000 to get to your destination but in return you get mind grinding quality of service.

You paid. meaning you are entitled and it is your right to get quality service.

What you can should do in traveling a low-cost carrier

1) on-time schedule (well, due to naia congestion it may reach a 50-50 chance)
2) book the 1st flight so you don't have to worry on the return aircraft (there are possibilities that it would have technical problems)
3) check-in early so you wouldn't get bumped off due to overbooking.
4) do confirm your flight at least 3 times and document everything!
5) upon purchasing, check all items! you may clicked on insurance or other stuff that made it more expensive.
6) do not always believe that there are engine failures! these are lies that they can easily escape.
7) read the fine print of the ticket.

Here is my painful experience with Cebu Pacific:

Nov 1, 2011 (UNDAS) it's a 4 day holiday that is hugely celebrated in the Philippines.

people go to provinces to visit the dead, and some go on a vacation. Meaning Airports, Seaports, Bus Terminals are jam-packed.

My Dad and I are scheduled for a 1:30pm flight to Bacolod,

we checked in around 10am because cebu pacific check-in counters can get very chaotic (long ques). then Dad wants to check in our luggage, however we haven't availed to have luggage allowance. so that's fine, no fault on cebu pacific.

Good thing I bought my laptop with me! (i always bring my laptop with me - to kill time). then i looked on my watch, It's already 1:10pm and we are not called for boarding. Then i told myself, ah! this is expected. then we will board within an hour or two. but no!!! there were no announcement until 5pm.

My father and i went to the gate. upon arrival: there were like 400 people and the gate is good to handle 100 passengers only.

Looks like this: you can't even sit on the floor. You have to go upstairs just to able to sit.

All Afternoon flights are delayed. Sad for the waiting passengers. 

all caticlan flight were cancelled. People are mad, hungry, and exhausted. - They were re-routed to Kalibo.

I was getting impatient, my dad is diabetic, we were hungry, stuffy terminal, children crying. this was hell.

these were the answers of the people of cebu pacific (very very practiced):

1) due to engine failure

2) due to delayed return aircraft

3) safety issues (really? even if it's an A320?)

7:30pm! finally! boarding. there was apologies at the airlines end, but it was not sincere. the ground staffs were not helpful at all. 

we were given a small bottle of mineral water, and a jollibee hotdog sandwich. - After almost 7.5 hours of waiting, they just gave us this. i was hungry (i was not able to buy snacks since food prices in the airport doubles). then we took the bus going to the aircraft - picture me like a wandering hermit.

there was a sense of relief when i was able to enter the aircraft, and sat in the 1st row (more leg room!). The plane was new as in fresh from the factory effect.

The FAs didn't even bother to apologize for the inconvenience that the airline caused.  

we were able to leave the apron, only to found out that our aircraft was in line for take-off. it was 8:15pm.

 9:00am take off. arrived at the Bacolod-Silay airport around 10pm. plans were ruined.

I vowed never to take cebu pacific again. i really never cared for the amount. But because PAL at that time, had no more available seats. then no choice.


To found out that sometimes, Cebu Pacific sells higher prices than PAL (btw, you really achieve quality service)

I encountered some bubus with PAL (who doesn't?) but despite that all, I remained loyal to them.

1) They tell what is the real problem
2) I was disappointed when they outsourced ground staff, because they handle passengers well. they can squeeze you in for earlier flight if available.
3) they give meals right away upon 3 hours of delay.
4) FAs are very courteous, apologetic, and sincere about the delay.

BTW, we encountered a 4 hour delay with PAL and ground staff back then handled it like a pro even if angry passengers are threatening to sue them! she was solid.

Also, PAL gave not snacks during the flight, but hot meals.

PAL knows how to compensate - well, at least as far as i know. but i know there are traumatizing events that happened to other passengers.

Although from this incident: you may think twice again for low-cost carriers: Airine Bullying

International wise - PAL has no problems (well, in so far i encountered) - very good international product.

If the difference with PAL and other low cost airlines are around 300-400 better opt to go to PAL. to avoid such hassle. :)

PAL Inflight Meal BKK - MNL

11:35pm trip back to manila (i was excited to go back because i miss my bed, i miss free wifi - in bangkok, there are no free wifi especially in malls)

Menu:

1) Beef Stew

2) Chicken Afritada

I was hungry that night because i wasn't able to take a heavy dinner due to the heat of the city (BKK is a whopping 39 degrees, Manila is only 33) 

My Meal was so sad compared to my MNL-BKK trip, I only had a chicken meat that is as big as a regular spoon. But my parents gave me their food because they ate prior to going to the airport (they ordered beef stew) The taste was ok nothing special, but it was more than enough rather than you but in some other restaurants. I was happy that the bread bun was there again! the  chicken was soft and the rice was a little bit hard but it was snow white (by the way, rice was more than the meat). the vegetables was too soft, i find it hard to eat. 

The Beef stew was great! soft, very very savory and easy to eat.

The appetizer was good! Tuna with winged beam wrapped in fresh lettuce.

then a coconut jelly yum!!

I thought the dessert was the coco jelly but again another surprise thai magnolia chocolate bits ice cream!! YUM!

again, solid as a rock. hahaha

Inflight move: Big Miracle 

PAL Inflight Meal MNL-BKK

After almost 3 weeks, I Finally able to open my blog.

After months of disappointment from the flooding of bangkok, our trip finally cam to push trough.

PAL Economy Food Manila-Bangkok (3 hours and 30 min)

Aircraft: Boeing A340-300 (twin aisle)

I was worried that the flight would be delayed. fortunately it was on time! looking forward to my next trip via  PAL to Cebu on july. :)

Menu:

1) Chicken Inasal

2) Steam Fish in Sweet and Sour Sauce.

Again due to some advises that never choose fish food from airline, I ordered the local fave dish of man filipinos: Chicken Inasal.

The Meal was HOT. I'm so curios on how they make the food very hot despite the many passengers that will be served. anyways, the chicken was tender, the rice was soft, the inasal was very flavorful and no need for sauce. the vegetables was fantastic as ever. it doesn't have those charcoal flavor that you can taste in some normal inasal, maybe they cooked this in oven or something. i love it!

The Bread was phenomenal. this was the highlight of my meal. the bun was fresh, it has walnuts, raisins, it was thick and soft. it was oh soooooo gooood! i wonder who made this bun. i have to know! unfortunately, i wasn't able to ask the stewardess.

Apetizer: mixed vegetables (olive, cucumber, ham, bell pepper, and some sauce) it was very very good! at first, i was skeptical to eat the dish because of it's presentation but i tried it eventually and did not regret the thing! :)

I was worried that i can't drink alcohol for the next 5 days, but luckily PAL gives free alcoholic beverages (beer or wine) i was so happy to see a bottle of red wine, and so i did ordered one. :)

i thought after the wine, the meal is done but i was shocked when the flight attendant gave us these free Arce Dairy ice cream. I dislike avocado flavor. i hate it. but it was part of what i paid for and out of curiosity, i want to know what's the taste. the taste was weird, truly weird. It didn't taste avocado, but it tasted like pistachios. so so weird, then again due to the absence of avocado flavor, i finish that darn thing.

it was solid hard like a rock.

Spacious! More leg room! :)

Inlfight Movie: Hugo

I wast munching while watching a good movie with a very comfortable spacious seat going to Bangkok. I'm very loyal to PAL due to it's quality service and competitive price and since all my milage is with PAL. i never disappointed with their service (oh wait some of the Flight Attended never smiled.)