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.