CAB to stop ‘chronically delayed, canceled’ flights

Only local airlines will be covered by sanctions on habitually delayed and canceled flights. Foreign carriers are already being regulated in their home countries.

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) is looking at permanently stopping flights that are subject to chronic delays and cancellations.

In a chance interview with reporters last week, CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla said the board is set to come out next month the draft guidelines that would impose sanctions on airlines with habitually delayed and cancelled flights.

“If (flights are) always cancelled, always delayed, there comes a point in time that you already have to remove that flight. It boils down to poor planning,” Arcilla said.

“(We will) require that a particular flight be curtailed because it is causing too much inconvenience. There is no reason for you to continue it,” he added.

CAB will base the sanctions on their on-time performance (OTP) published regularly by the Department of Transportation (DoTr), taking into account the flight operations, delays, and cancellations. It also measures the number of departure and arrivals that take off and land within 15 minutes from schedule.

“We will base it on the overall performance. It is not as if, because you were delayed, you will be subject to penalties already,” he said.

Only local airlines will be covered by the upcoming policy, as foreign carriers are already being regulated in their home countries.

In July this year, CAB ordered local airlines to submit a monthly report of their OTP to help it evaluate operational efficiency at the country’s airports.

Latest data from the DoTr showed that as of Sunday, Gokongwei-led Cebu Pacific and CebGo have the highest OTP of 89 percent and 90 percent, respectively, at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, while Skyjet Airlines and AirAsia were the lowest at 13 percent and 61 percent, respectively.