Senator Francis Escudero on Thursday said it is about time to pass a law that would institutionalize the Air Passenger Bill of Rights and impose stiffer penalties on violators amid the rising grievances by travelers against poor airline services. "Similar measures had been filed in the previous Congress but nothing happened. It is about time that we in the 19th Congress should look into this seriously and hopefully pass the necessary legislation," Escudero said in a statement. The current Congress, according to Escudero, should look into legislating the Air Passenger Bill of Rights, a proposal that was backed by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) during Wednesday's hearing conducted jointly by the Committee on Tourism and the Committee on Public Services, chaired by Senators Nancy Binay and Grace Poe, respectively. CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said the violations and penalties in the 71-year-old Republic Act 776 or the "Civil Aeronautics Act of the Philippines" have not been revised and that the law limits the fine to PHP5,000 for each violation. On the other hand, the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights was not legislated but contained in the Joint Administrative Order 1 of the then Department of Transportation and Communications and the Department of Trade and Industry in 2012. The Air Passenger Bill of Rights protects air passengers from problems in the airport, such as delayed or canceled flights without appropriate warning, lost luggage, and overbooking of flights, among others. It also covers pre-flight issues, such as misleading fare advertisements. The hearing tackled complaints lodged by passengers who have experienced delayed and canceled flights, overbooking, offloading, offboarding, and lost luggage. Airline representatives acknowledged the challenges faced by their companies and issued separate public apologies for the inconvenience brought to the affected passengers. Airline officials also informed the senators that they were undertaking measures and coordinating with the concerned government agencies to address the situation effectively. The flight delays and cancellations during the past months were caused mainly by, among others, the supply chain issues (global shortage on airline components and spare parts) that resulted in more aircraft on ground (AOGs), delays in the scheduled delivery of aircraft from Airbus, logistics challenges resulting to prolonged aircraft recovery, and uncontrollable weather-related condition, airline officials said. Binay is scheduled to hold a follow-up meeting soon, with the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) officials in attendance

Source: Philippines News Agency