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Labour relations a key to PAL`s turnaround
Jaime Bautista, President and COO of Philippine Airlines (PAL), the CAPA Airline Turnaround of the Year, pointed to the carrier's ability to make peace with labour as a key to its remarkable renaissance. When the carrier went into receivership in 1998, it was a two-week pilots and crew strike that almost put the Philippine flag carrier out of business. That strike, however, paved the way for its future turnaround, as the illegal nature of the action meant that the union was barred from representing the pilots in future (and when the pilots returned, they signed an agreement vowing not to organise again).

Now, Mr Bautista explains, pilots are represented in the airline's senior management, with all company players focusing their attention on the competition PAL faces from internal and external sources. "We're getting along very well these days," the CEO remarked.

Ensuring that the management-labour harmony is not limited to the flight deck staff, the privately owned airline, which is in the process of expanding services within the region and to the US, ensured that all employees received shares in the company before it began the process of pursuing a multi-level ownership diversification programme.

The move was a well-earned reward for a workforce that was loyal throughout the darkest days of receivership. "Our employees really wanted to save the airline," Mr Bautista gratefully says.

Vicky Karantzavelou - Monday, November 05, 2007