PAL ditches second wave of retrenchments

By: Darwin G. Amojelar, InterAksyon.com
August 30, 2012 5:26 PM                      

MANILA - Philippine Airlines on Thursday said it was no longer necessary to retrench more workers to return the carrier to profitability.

"There is no need for PAL to cut more employees. In fact, we will hire additional pilots and 1,600 flight attendant for our re-fleeting program," Ramon S. Ang, president of PAL said.

PAL had entered a $7 billion deal with Airbus to purchase 54 aircrafts over the next three years. 

At end-March, PAL's workforce numbered 4,803, of which 463 were pilots; 1,626, cabin crew; and 2,714 ground employees.

Before the San Miguel group bought into PAL, the flag carrier's previous president, Jaime Bautista, said the airline would lay off 500 more people on top of the 2,400 employees retrenched after ground handling, ticket reservations and catering were outsourced.

The second round of layoffs was supposed to trim the number of employees in human resources, IT and logistics.

PAL had tapped SkyKitchen Philippines Inc. for its catering, SkyLogistics Philippines Inc. for ground handling, and SPi Global for call center reservations.

The airline had allocated about P2.5 billion in severance benefits for affected workers. 

Based on the October 29, 2010 order of Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, affected workers will receive separation pay equivalent to 125 percent of their monthly salary for every year of service, a P50,000 gratuity pay, a 100 percent conversion of unused vacation and sick leaves, trip pass, and other non-cash benefits.

Malacanang also granted an additional P50,000 gratuity pay.

http://www.interaksyon.com/business/41890/pal-ditches-second-wave-of-retrenchments

It's official: San Miguel's Ang now PAL president

Posted on 04/20/2012 4:50 PM  | Updated 04/20/2012 4:56 PM

MANILA, Philippines - Ramon Ang, president of diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp., has taken over as president and chief operating officer of Philippine Airlines (PAL), following a deal giving San Miguel a minority stake in the carrier.

Ang replaces Jaime Bautista, who resigned from his post as officer and director, said PAL Holdings Inc. in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, April 20.

Former trade minister Roberto Ongpin and businessman Inigo Zobel have been elected as directors of the airline. Other new directors include Aurora Calderon and Ferdinand Constantino.

Taipan Lucio Tan remains as chairman.

Aside from Ang, other newly appointed officers of PAL include:

• Harry Tan - Treasurer;
• Estelito Mendoza - Corporate Secretary;
• Ma. Cecilia Pesayco (previously Corporate Secretary) - Assistant Corporate Secretary;
• Irene Cipriano - Assistant Corporate Secretary; and
• Daniel Ang Tan Chai - Chief Finance Officer.

Last April 3, San Miguel signed investment agreements with two holding companies owned by Tan for new shares in PAL and low cost carrier, AirPhil Express.

San Miguel, which has been diversifying away from its core food and drinks business into heavy industries, said it would shell out $500 million for the shares, equivalent to a 49% stake in the flag carrier.

The parties said the buy-in will help PAL in its refleeting program, and make it more viable and competitive.

PAL, Asia's oldest airline, has been bleeding financially due to a number of factors, including labor disputes and skyrocketing fuel prices. It has also been hit by increasing competition among players in the local and global aviation industry.

San Miguel, for its part, is expected to benefit from synergies between PAL and another subsidiary, Petron Corp. PAL accounts for 4% of Petron's jet fuel sales.

http://www.rappler.com/business/4128-it-s-official-san-miguel-s-ang-now-pal-president#.T5FITN2LfFs.facebook

Key PAL executives tender resignation

17-Apr-12, 7:01 PM | Darwin G. Amojelar, InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines - Key executives of Philippine Airlines (PAL) and its parent firm tendered their resignation last week after San Miguel Corp. acquired a significant stake in Asia's oldest airline, according to a highly-place source.

The source said the board of directors of PAL Holdings Inc. and PAL submitted their courtesy resignation to give San Miguel a free hand in organizing a new management team.

Jaime Bautista, president of PAL and director of PAL Holdings, also tendered his resignation.

PAL's board members include Charles C. Chante,  Joseph T. Chua,  Estelito P. Mendoza, Cesar N. Santos, Washington SyCip,  Lucio K. Tan Jr. , and Michael G. Tan. 

PAL's indendent directors are Antonio Alindogan Jr., Enrique Cheng, Alberto D. Lina and Gregorio T. Yu .

The directors of PAL Holdings include Tan Jr., Cheng, Alindogan, Michael Tan, Harry Tan, Wilson Young, Domingo Chua, Juanita Tan Lee, and Johnip Cua.

Through wholly owned subsidiary San Miguel Equity Investments Inc. (SMEII), San Miguel entered into investment agreements with Trustmark Holdings Corp. and Zuma Holdings and Management Corp. giving the former a 49 percent stake PAL and Air Philippines Express for $500 million.

Trustmark and Zuma are majority owned by Lucio Tan, who is also chairman of PAL and PAL Holdings.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, San Miguel said its unit SMEII will not have a direct equity interest in PAL Holdings nor in PAL, the operating company.

"SMEII shall have resulting proportionate interests in PAL Holdings, PAL, as well as in Airphil, to the extent of its investment in Trustmark and Zuma, respectively," San Miguel said.

"The investment of the company was based on the enterprise value of PAL and Airphil taking into account a discounted cash flow analysis of the ongoing business of PAL and Airphil," the conglomerate added. 

San Miguel also said there were no conditions precedent to the transaction.

The company further said the investments do not have any immediate effect on the financial condition and operations.

Source: http://www.interaksyon.com/article/29664/key-pal-executives-tender-resignation