Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino Int'l) said in a statement on February 28 that it had cut its workforce by about 300 employees due to continued losses. The job reductions complete a retrenchment process involving ground-based administrative and management personnel.

“The streamlining will strengthen the company in the wake of losses sustained in 2019, aggravated by the ongoing travel restrictions and flight suspensions to areas affected by Covid-19,” the carrier said, adding that the job cuts involved a “voluntary separation initiative” mainly aimed at long-serving employees. Affected workers will receive redundancy benefits, flight pass privileges, and career counselling assistance, the statement said.

The airline has a total headcount of 6,087 employees, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Other initiatives to cut costs include “revenue generation from an optimised route network and new ancillary products, more aggressive cost management efforts, and investment in digital technology,” the flag carrier said.

The news came as Philippine Airlines posted the biggest loss in its corporate history, which PAL’s president and chief operating officer, Gilbert Santa Maria, blamed in a letter sent to employees last week on “unsustainable long-term debt and lease obligations [in] billions of US dollars”, results aggravated in 2020 by the Taal Volcano eruption in January and the ongoing coronavirus crisis, which “shut down all our flights to mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau”, the Inquirer reported.

PAL said in a statement on February 29 that it had also cut the majority of frequencies from Manila to both Seoul Incheon and Busan in South Korea until the end of March because of the outbreak.

The company sustained a net loss of USD208 million in 2019, Santa Maria said, making it the third consecutive year of losses for the firm.

“To survive, our flag carrier needs to find a way to profitability, reduce its debt, and achieve a higher level of competitiveness. To this end, we have been working on turnaround initiatives to strengthen revenue generation and manage costs,” he said.

In its statement about the job losses, the flag carrier pledged to “continue to take delivery of additional aircraft for regional flights and is gearing up to launch” new direct routes between Cebu and Los Angeles Int'l and routes to Perth Int'l, Pagadian, Kota Kinabalu, and Manado.