PAL cancels flights due to maintenance, revenge travel

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has been experiencing recurring flight cancellations and delays for the past two to three weeks due to aircraft maintenance, with an average of five to 10 domestic and international flights canceled daily.

These disruptions are attributed to the "revenge travel" phenomenon, leading to high aircraft utilization and requiring some planes to undergo preventive maintenance earlier than scheduled or face unforeseen issues.

On June 15, a total of 29 PAL and CebGo flights were canceled, and another 29 were delayed, though the Manila International Airport Authority's Media Affairs Division only announced weather-related cancellations.

An estimated 20 PAL flights are slated for cancellation between June 16 and 17.

Affected passengers are being rebooked on the next available flights, rerouted, refunded, or booked on other airlines.

PAL is implementing measures to optimize operations, including changes to maintenance procedures to enhance efficiency and reduce servicing time, and reviewing its capacity to ensure reliability.

The airline has also reduced its published capacity for the upcoming months to mitigate further disruptions.