Philippine Airlines Ranks Near Bottom of Global Airline Survey

Philippine Airlines has once again ranked near the bottom of the annual Global Airline Rankings at the World Airline Awards. Out of 100 carriers worldwide, Philippine Airlines achieved a dismal 93rd place at the 2014 Awards, which represents a drop from the 90th place that the carrier achieved the previous year.

philippine airlines 747
Copyright Photo: Angelo Agcamaran/PPSG
The 2014 World Airline Awards were held this year at the historic Wind Tunnels in Farnborough, England during the recently held Farnborough Air Show. The results are determined based on an annual survey that attracts responses from more than 18 million passengers around the world. 

For 2014, the World Airline Customer Survey obtained responses from 18.85 million business and leisure travellers representing more than 105 nationalities across all cabin types including First Class, Business Class, Premium Economy, and Economy. The survey was conducted between August 2013 and May 2014. 

Respondents typically evaluate more than 245 global airlines from low cost carriers to major international airlines based on their performance in the areas of check-in, boarding, seat comfort, cabin cleanliness, food, beverage, in-flight entertainment, and staff service. 

At the 2014 awards, Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific ranked first over all of the world's international airlines. Qatar Airways ranked second, while Singapore Airlines ranked in third place this year. Cathay Pacific is the only carrier in the world to have achieved first place four times. The airline grabbed the top spot in 2003, 2005, 2009, and 2014. 

According to Skytrax Chief Executive Officer, Edward Plaisted, Cathay Pacific was the best performer across all types of travel. "Some airlines were very good in economy, others in luxury, but Cathay Pacific Airways was top, or near the top, in all categories." 

For Cathay Pacific CEO Ivan Chu, the achievement of first place is another vote of confidence in the airline from the world's air travellers. "The World's Best Airline award is particularly important to us because it was decided by the votes of close to 19 million travellers from around the world," said Chu. "Thank you to everyone who voted for us."

If Philippine Airlines intends to rise as one of the world's prominent global airlines reflecting a world-class standard, it will need to do a much better job of convincing passengers that it is worthy of such a title. Since being taken over by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Airlines has made a number of changes that has drawn a mixture of both praise and criticism. 

In spite of making some improvements and investing in new aircraft, passengers and industry observers continue to question some of the airline's decisions in terms of ambitious routes, in-flight entertainment, business class standards, service downgrades, and brand identity. In the case of in-flight entertainment, Philippine Airlines has taken a step to the left, while other carriers have taken a step to the right. 

PAL recently launched its new aircraft cabin design aboard its brand new fleet of A330-300HGW aircraft. However, the airline did not install a single television screen for in-flight entertainment in business or economy class. Instead, the airline opted to use a wireless entertainment system that streams media content to the personal devices of passengers. For those in economy class that do not bring their own personal device, an iPad rental is available for a fee. 

Philippine Airlines management believe that they are on the right path to meet a new trend in the industry. However, there is little evidence to suggest that this is the true direction of the airline industry with carriers such as Cathay Pacific continuing to make further investments in its on-board cabin product and in-flight entertainment systems. Most recently, Cathay Pacific enhanced its in-flight entertainment when it revealed its new Premium Economy class, which features a 10.6" touch screen personal television and the ability to stream content from your own personal device including music and videos. 

Based on the results of the most recent World Airline Customer Survey, one would be led to believe that Cathay Pacific is the carrier on the right track, making the right moves that passengers want. With its investments in in-flight entertainment and improvements to the rest of its on-board product, Cathay Pacific managed to rise from 6th place in 2013 to 1st place in 2014, a ranking that it has proudly held for three other years. 

Meanwhile, Philippine Airlines has dropped a further three slots from its ranking in 2013 of 90th place to an embarrassing 93rd place out of 100 carriers. One could easily suggest that in spite of the efforts of San Miguel Corporation, passengers are still not satisfied with what they are receiving from the nation's flag carrier. 

Even Garuda Indonesia, a carrier that has faced similar challenges as Philippine Airlines having also been on the European blacklist for airlines with significant safety concerns, managed to claw back and achieve 7th place at this year's airline awards. Garuda Indonesia also took home the top place for the World's Best Cabin Crew. Philippine Airlines did not even place in the top 10 in that category on a global basis or even within Asia. 

However, the news was not all dismal for Philippine carriers. AirAsia Group, headed by Tony Fernandes, once again claimed the title of the World's Best Low-Cost Airline for the sixth consecutive year. AirAsia is represented in the Philippines by its local affiliates, AirAsia Zest and AirAsia Philippines. 

"It all started with a dream 12 years ago. From two aging aircraft and just six routes back in 2002, we have grown to operate a proud fleet of over 160 aircraft, 95 destinations, and carried over 250 million guests," said Fernandes. "It is a great honour to be acknowledged as the World's Best Low Cost Airline for six consecutive years and for that, I thank our guests, whose valuable criticisms and feedback made us an outstanding airline today. In aviation, the one thing that remains constant is change and innovation." 

The annual Skytrax awards are conducted on a non-profit basis with rigorous monitoring during the survey process to ensure that there is no external influence or airline involvement. " The reputation of these awards relies on our ability to maintain transparency across the survey and awards format," said Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax. "We know that some award-winning airlines are not the favourite of everyone, and we receive vocal feedback and complaints from a few users each year when results are published. However, we can do no more than remind them that award-winning airlines are decided by their fellow airline customers, and not by Skytrax."

The World Airline Awards has been held since 1999. Philippine travellers can write reviews of their flights with Philippine carriers and share their experience at Philippine Flight Network Airline Reviews.

World's Best Airline (2014)
  1. Cathay Pacific
  2. Qatar Airways
  3. Singapore Airlines
  4. Emirates
  5. Turkish Airlines
  6. ANA All Nippon Airways
  7. Garuda Indonesia
  8. Asiana Airlines
  9. Etihad Airways
  10. Lufthansa
Best Airline in Asia (2014)
  1. Cathay Pacific
  2. Singapore Airlines
  3. ANA All Nippon Airways
  4. Garuda Indonesia
  5. Asiana Airlines
  6. EVA Air
  7. Thai Airways International
  8. Malaysia Airlines
  9. Hainan Airlines
  10. Bangkok Airways
Best Low-Cost Airline in Asia (2014)
  1. AirAsia
  2. AirAsia X
  3. Indigo
  4. Jetstar Asia
  5. Scoot
  6. Peach
  7. Spicejet
  8. Tigerair Singapore
  9. Nok Air
  10. Skymark Airlines

43 comments:

  1. For go sakes, Im like on the edge of losing hope for PAL...
    Even though PAL is in Modernization they are defiantly taking a step back on many different levels..
    They arent adding any IFE to their new fleets, Their interior of their aircraft is very dull and has been the same ever since. FA Attitude are very annoying and rude, treating passengers like were low classes. FA uniforms make the aircraft interior look more dull with their gray-ish brown-ish color. Need something lighter, appealing, welcoming, younger. They defiantly need a new airport, and a nicer airport.. Better Service...

    Their new iAiR (internet on board) connectivity sucks.. I thought it would be free.. It cost so much as it is $40 for an entire fight to Manila to Honolulu. or $5 for 30 minutes. Thats just plain RIP OFF. I also thought iPad would be free to use.. But its like another $40 to rent one out.. At least have free internet on the plane.. We would rather use our phone but they have to force us to buy the internet plan.. That is no way to grab attention for people to fly PAL. Thats just plain rip off. Imagine having REAL IFE instead of an Mini Ipad that cost $200-300! and rarely people will use it! Real IFE personal screens on each seats would of been much worth it as the flight ticket is already EXPENSIVE enough! "Your Home in the Sky" more like "Pay More in the Sky" to have more entertainment then an over head TV which does not even work properly.. Seats are also ripping and I could even see whats inside the seats.. I pretty much know PAL does not even take care of their aircraft properly.. Very much disappointed on their recent flight..
    10 Hours flight doing nothing but sleep and eat.. VERY BORING.
    Imagine when PAL downgrades London, Vancouver, Toronto with their A343... NO IFE's..

    Their no point PAL.. even if you expand to Europe or to North America.. With this kind of service you bring with expensive tickets.. You wont even grab people attention!

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    Replies
    1. Well said sir! Such a disgrace with PAL and their decisions, flag carriers improve their IFE and keep up to date while PAL returns back to the ice ages. Very disappointed on how they have their brand loyalty to their passengers. Took YVR- MNL A343 after 7 years overseas and pure disappointment. Paid cancelling fees and booked the return trip home with CX-AC instead with the hassle of connecting flights than suffer with PAL's horrible services. And they even add more oldies 340s?? Refurbish them at least!! Nothing close to any worthy flag carrier. Heck if Cebu launches Canada flights id go with them at least I get what I pay for, cheap airfare= fair service than rip off $$$ for unfair service. Disgrace!

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  2. service got worse when they started serving beer an beer instead of san miguel, and pal has never recovered since then. used to love pal, fly pal, and be proud of pal. i'd rather fly on sq, cx, ek, ke to enjoy my flights than suffer the miseries of being a mabuhay miler :)

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  3. This is started when Ramon Ang took management control of PAL & Lucio Tan does not agree to all his decision. Aircraft annual maintenance is being farmed out outside the Philippines usually China due to cheap labor.Now they plan to do all daily & monthly maintenance next year presently being done by Lufthansa Technik which Lucio Tan is minority owner with the worlds number one maintenance provider Lufthansa Technik AG of Germany as majority owner. When an aircraft of PAL arrives from China after an annual check, there are many deferred maintenance. PAL then request LTP to do the rest which the Germans at LTP finds insulting. LTPis willing to let go of PAL as a major customer since Qantas & Virgin Atlantic signed ten year maintenance agreement. Under negotiation are with comebacking Air France A380 & Air Asia A320.

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  4. what was the highest ranking PAL ever reached ?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 90 in 2013. Because that was the first time Skytrax posted its rankings

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  5. Screw you Philippine Airlines, an insult to the nation and our dear flag.

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  6. Should anyone be surprised?

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  7. CX has the worst flight crew!! Once again,Skytrax ranks the popular airline at the top. How about EK and EY? They're better than CX.

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  8. I tried posting a bad review of Cathay Pacific in Skytrax (cabin + ground crew are horrible) but then Skytrax won't allow me to post it!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I experienced the same with PAL but with it is for complementary, but SKYTRAX did not post my good comments for PAL. Seems their bias. :)

      Delete
  9. PAL has horrible in-flight crews. You seem to feel like they don't wanna be in their job.

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  10. Pal really need to improve their fa's attitude. They're very rude. Even worse than those Lcc. And the foods taste terrible. Tickets are getting expensive but the services are not improving. Dosnt worth as a countries flag carrier

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  11. Down grading the London route with A343 is a bad idea, Terminal 2 at Manila is hot and stuffy and the air con needs an upgrade. Too much glass in that terminal thats why it gets so hot

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  12. Some clowns on here are comparing Cathay Pacific with PAL, dont even bother you idiots PAL will never even get close to the service Cathay provides

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  13. Put it simply - PAL is hopeless and every Filipino can never be proud of its national flag carrier.

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  14. What do you expect from a CEO who has no proper university education nor any international global experience, education and exposure. He has a mindset of a blue collar worker like he used to be a car driver. All you have to do is take a look at their marketing. Jesus even airlines from 4th world countries have better branding. marketing and vision! What makes it worse are the Philippine Airlines flight attendants who have the worst attitude, demeanor and style, and could barely speak decent English (just like Ramon Ang who should probably stop speaking pygmy English, Mommy Dionysia speaks better English BTW!). As a 1 Million Miler having flown the top airlines in the world including Asia, Philippine Airlines flight attendants are the worst in Asia. You cannot even compare them to Garuda, Cathay, Singapore, ANA, Thai nor MAS. Even Myanmar Airways and Lao Airlines are WAY better than Philippine Airlines. They act as if they are some important upper crust people from Manila, but they simply are dumb stupid trolley dolleys! Implement a global advisory team of experts and experience professionals to run this company! PAL will lose and lose and lose more! Add to the insult, EASYJET ranked #44!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Its not the CEO. Its te people around him giving advise. Wrong consultants wrong sets of management people

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  15. For evidence of PAL flight attendants attitudes - try flying on one of their routes to the Middle East where 99% of passengers are OFWs and you can just see the expressions on their faces. Aren't the OFWs hailed as the "new heroes" propping up the Philippine economy? They deserve better treatment then.

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    1. The fact that a Filipino flight attendant such as those of Philippine Airlines act with such demeaning attitude and lack of respect to their Filipinos tells a lot about the airline culture and attitude. I would advise passengers to video thos FAs and circulate to the web for everyone to see how rude, stupid, disgusting the Philippine Airlines trolley dolleys are! If PAL management does not react to these critiques widely circulating everywhere, it tells you what an inept corporate management team it has STARTING from their UNEDUCATED blue collar CEO. HE SHOULD REALLY STOP SPEAKING ENGLISH, he is an embarassment to the Filipino intellect!!!

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  16. Ramon Ang's strategic and management team do not have the slightest idea of what the market wants. The purchase of the A330HGW and A321 without IFE and with LCC type seating will lead to the downfall of this once proud airlines

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  17. Someone could steer this airline around. It could be better! And we all know it's not RSA. Someone with the right mind could manage and turn PAL into its former glory.

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  18. The demise of PAL is forthcoming. Ramon Ang hasn't had the slightest clue as to how an airline operates and what the market dictates in this global and highly competitive industry. We all know he has got a sizeable stake at SMC, but that doesn't make him the right person to run PAL.

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  19. From experience, PAL's saving grace are it's pilots, younger cabin crew, and sometimes, even the food. All the rest are bad: ground crew, NAIA 2, old cabin crew, new planes with LCC seats, no in-flight entertainment, flight delays, etc. No wonder they rate so badly by Skytrax

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  20. God bless PAL, it's employees, stakeholders and passengers!

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  21. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Z73ygMo-k

    Pygmy English from the CEO of PAL

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  22. very shameful isn't it

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  23. Stop. PAL is just on their way of improving their services because they overcome FAA Category 2, EU blacklist, and ICAO blacklist which undertakes within almost several years. This prevents PAL of expanding new routes such as Europe. This also prevents PAL on switching to fuel saving aircraft for US flights resulting to several losses. PAL needs to overcome losses and make profit.

    By doing this PAL went back-to-zero. They can't upgrade due to their losses. They doesn't install IFEs on their new aircraft due to losses. After PAL earn much bigger profit, they will provide good services such as IFEs, 8 abreast seats on economy and 7 abreast or less on premium economy for new Airbus A330-300, and new economical aircraft.

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  24. why don't you give Mr. Ramon Ang another year (2015) or two (2016) to show how he will turnaround PAL. it is simply unwise to change horses in the middle of the stream. Afterall, Lucio Tan had his chance to directly manage PAL from 1993 to 2011. Well, what happened in those 8 years of PAL under Lucio Tan?

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  25. As a foreigner (Australian) who has flown PAL for many years, regrettably I haven't seen anything much improve under San Miguel Corp. This is surprising because the company seems to be competent in other sectors. The decision to not have IFE at seats on board is a disaster. Thank you to this website for highlighting this.

    Nonetheless, I continue to patronise PAL but I want an aircraft with at seat entertainment on the Australian and London Heathrow, UK routes.

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    Replies
    1. What does it mean, they don't have in-flight entertainment on Australia flights? Thank you for advising me, I will cancel our booking with PAL. We are supposed to pay in mid-September. I have to rush and change it to Qantas. 7.5 hours of boredom on PAL flights.
      LCC is not feasible for long-haul flights. They should read researches and evaluation from international aviation experts.
      Horrible!
      Good-bye PAL.

      Delete
  26. During the time of Jaime Bautista as PAL's president, if I have issues with PAL, I would write him an email and I get a reply from his personal secretary. He was ready to listen to suggestions, address any concerns and acknowledge your email.

    Today, I can't write to RSA since he does not make his email address known. The only way to contact PAL for any concern is sending an email to wecare@philippineairlines.com. Unfortunately, emails sent to this address are not answered by anyone.

    PAL's current state is really sad. Service level is very poor. It was really much better under LT.

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    Replies
    1. This is very true. I had emailed Jaime Bautista in 2007 and yes got a prompt response. Though the matter I complained about got only rectified many years later :)

      Delete
  27. If PAL doesn't experience safety issues regarding FAA Category 2, EU blacklist, and ICAO blacklist, PAL must have good services, more long range aircraft, route expansions, and among top 10. It's because of CAAP whom bring the Philippine aviation on such safety issues due to their carelessness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The issue here is not "safety", its in-flight entertainment, cabin attitude etc... it has nothing to do with category 2. They are two different things.
      The fact is, Ramon Ang and his cohorts do not know how to run a global airline.

      Delete
    2. Top 10 of what? Worst airline in the world? That I agree.

      Delete

  28. I had my flight earlier... Pr 2993... Ang kakapal tlga ng mga FA akala mo kung sino nakamali lang ako sa seat number ko...its my first time to be insulted hndi man harapan pero the way they did gave me a very low self esteem. Hndi ba sila nag undergo ng training? Nagpaparinig pa ang isang FA na agang-aga etong breakfast (situation) daw nag nakukuha niya., then i said sorry my mistake with the wrong chair i seated. Pati ang accent ko pinatulan ng isang female FA... Then akala nmn ng isang lalaki-bakla nag taas ako ng kilay kaya nagtulong tulongan sila sa likod. Pati background ko tinatanong sa ibang passenger which is very rude and indecent act... At nagpaparinig pa ng malakas sa likod.. Oo i am not perfect but it hurt me alot i dont have any intention na tarayan sila and they knew that sila lang mismo ang nagpapalaki ng maliit na bagay. Sabi pa ng isang MALE? FA baka buhusan nya daw ako ng kape if sya ang magseserve. Panay daan s pwesto ko at nagtataray.. ang libak ng mga FA sa likod at nagpaparining pa with no class and with attitude problem. Big deal na ata sa kanila ng pag taas ko ng kilay lalo na sa baklang walang breding .Akala mo kung sino... Trabaho nila ang protektahan ang client d man sa lahat ng bagay pero sana naman sa maayos na paraan ... Been trvelling to PAL almost of my travel i choose you because i trusted your service its my first time to take a first flight and its not worthy they let me feel down almost 2 hours nasa plane then im all alone n they talk about the mistake i did to some of the passenger .. Hindi ba sila tinuruan ng tamang pakikiusap with this kind of situation ? Its their responsibility to provide respect at all cost.,. Im so dismayed with the cabin crew..Those cabin crew bound to manila-zamboanga are disgusting walang manners..

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