Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 23) — A Civil Aeronautics Board Executive (CAB) executive said it is time to reimpose a limit on the overbooking of airline companies following thousands of complaints from passengers regarding alleged canceled bookings, and offloading, among others.
CAB Executive Director Carmelo Arcilla told CNN Philippines’ The Source on Friday that he is recommending an overbooking cap of 5%-10% because from experience, airlines “would not overbook to the limit and according to experts, the airlines overbook between 2-5%.”
Overbooking is a global practice of airlines to ensure they will fly without an empty seat to optimize revenue in case passengers do not show up during flight schedule or would suddenly cancel their flight, Arcilla said.
There is a 2%-5% range being followed across the world, he noted. In the Philippines, the 10% limit was removed after the Air Passenger Bill of Rights was issued in 2012, he said.
According to Arcilla, authorities at that time believed that the cap was not needed since a compensation package was provided in the bill of rights.
“It would be counterintuitive if, of course there is a requirement for compensation, it is counterintuitive for an airline to say ‘I will overbook 20%’ because you will end up at the boarding date with 20% people complaining and you have to compensate for them,” he also pointed out.
Arcilla said different times may require different policies. Reimposing a cap, along with the existing policies on compensation, will make sure that air travelers have enough protection.
“Even with this, I call it counterweight of compensation, if you have a cap and then you have a counterweight of compensation, then you have two safety valves so to speak,” he said.
Asked about Arcilla’s statement, Cebu Pacific director for Corporate Communications Carmina Romero said “That is subject to further review and discussions.”
CNN Philippines also asked for comment from AirAsia and Philippine Airlines, but they have yet to respond.
Meanwhile, Arcilla also said that he supports passing a legislation that will strengthen the policies for the protection of air passengers, as well as the role of the CAB.
“At this point, passenger protection in the airline industry is contained in an administrative order. Also, the charter of the CAB as an administrative agency is pretty limited,” he said. “We are hamstrung in terms of being able to really go out of our way towards protecting passengers.”
The Makabayan bloc filed early this year House Bill 6738 that seeks to establish a Magna Carta for airline passengers amid numerous complaints against low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific.
