CAB orders Cebu Pacific to submit plan to prevent further flight cancellations

May 15, 2019

Due to recent flight cancellations, the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has ordered Cebu Pacific to submit within 30 days a concrete plan detailing corrective measures in its operations to prevent further inconvenience to passengers.

The order proceeds from a report submitted by CAB to the Department of Transportation (DOTr) after the conduct of two formal hearings to explain circumstances behind the flight cancellations, a DOTr statement said Wednesday.

CAB says a stern warning be given to Cebu Pacific to exercise diligence necessary in maintaining stability and reliability of air transport service.

Cebu Pacific applied for cancellation of 172 one-way domestic flights from 28 April through May 10. This is equivalent to about 14 flights a day, out of its more or less 400 daily domestic flights.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said a concrete plan will help the whole airline sector to address similar issues that might occur in the future.

“We are hoping that Cebu Pacific will immediately comply with the order to resolve this issue.... But moving forward, we aim to have more substantial actions so that our passengers will not have to suffer,” Tugade said.

In the investigation held on May 2 and May 6, Cebu Pacific cited that ongoing efforts to improve on-time performance (OTP) have led to its decision to cancel hundreds of flights.

For the DOTr’s part, Tugade has directed the daily publication of airline OTP in major airports nationwide. DMS