MANILA -- A former pilot of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) revealed that the real reason of the pilots' resignation is the issue on redundancy and transfer to Air Philippines (AiprPhil).
In a television interview Wednesday, former First Officer Henry Claveria said the airline woes started last year with reports that some pilots will be transferred to AirPhil, which is a sister company of PAL, because of redundancy.
Claveria said that when he was still in PAL, there were about 97 pilots and that some who are 60 and above were declared redundant.
He said when someone asked the management regarding the report, it said the transfer will not push through.
But on the first week of February this year, the management called on the 11 contractual captains and told them that they will be transferred to AirPhil.
They were also issued a notice that their contract ended and it will not be renewed and they were offered to transfer in AirPhil.
After that, seven regular first officers were also given a notice of transfer.
A letter was also given that they will have to sign. It stated that they agree being a redundant. It also stated that they apply for leave without pay that the only option for them to continue work is to transfer to AirPhil.
Claveria said what is bad in AirPhil, is that they will have no benefits to receive and there's a P30,000 cut in their salary per month.
Meanwhile, he said that the pilots who resigned already applied for other companies, some applied abroad. (Sunnex)