MANILA – Safety will always be Philippine Airlines’ paramount priority, whatever the challenges posed by the aviation industry’s current cost-conscious operating regime, the flag carrier’s president told an international aviation forum here recently.
“The promotion of safety is a shared responsibility, especially in an era where airlines are under tremendous pressure to cut costs in order to survive,” said Jaime J. Bautista in a keynote address to over 120 airline safety professionals gathered for the recent Asia Pacific Aviation Safety Seminar.
“Safety is our number one priority, and safety-conscious operations are a key feature of the way Philippine Airlines does business. It is second nature to our staff, whether at the frontlines or the back office. We put a very high premium on safety compliance,” he added.
The seminar was organized by the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) and was hosted by PAL with support from Airbus, MITRE Corporation, Lufthansa Technik Philippines, SAGEM (Safran Group), Jeppesen and Teledyne Controls.
Among the topics tackled were: Safety challenges with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region, safety management systems, responding to regional safety threats, cabin safety, human factors, and safety tools.
Welcoming the delegates, AAPA technical director Martin Eran-Tasker said: “Regardless of market conditions, the industry never loses sight of safety – always our number one priority. Passengers can rest assured that air travel is both extremely safe and highly secure.”
Speaking on behalf of CAAP Director General Alfonso Cusi, Capt. Jim Sydiongco, officer-in-charge of the flight standards and inspectorate service spoke of efforts to strengthen regulatory oversight, and said he was encouraged by ICAO’s acknowledgment that the Philippines was moving on the right track.
He commented: “This seminar presents an opportunity to further improve aviation safety awareness within the region. The sharing of lessons learned amongst the regional and local experts will be helpful in crafting more comprehensive regional safety aviation standards.”