Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 22) — The Makabayan bloc filed a bill that seeks to establish a Magna Carta for airline passengers amid numerous complaints against low-cost carrier Cebu Pacific, Gabriela Party-list Rep. Arlene Brosas said Thursday.
Speaking to CNN Philippines’ The Source, Brosas said House Bill 6738, or the proposed Magna Carta for Air Passengers, was filed in January.
The bill lists the rights and obligations of both passengers and air carriers, as well as of government agencies dealing with air travelers and airlines.
Cebu Pacific has been receiving backlash due to reported overbooking, offloading, and booking glitches.
During a Senate inquiry on Wednesday, the company said it currently has supply-chain problems with Pratt & Whitney, the manufacturers of the engines for its Airbus fleet. It also noted delays in the deliveries of its aircraft.
Sen. Grace Poe said airlines should also hire more service agents to answer the concerns of their customers instead of deploying chatbots.
Brosas said House Bill 6738 was filed early this year as they were already seeing a few complaints against Cebu Pacific. Now that the issues have become rampant, the lawmaker said legislation is important to strengthen the passenger bill of rights.
“‘Yung problem ay persistent, so mayroon kang kailangan talagang tingnan and ‘yung legal resource ng passengers, hindi siya enough,” she said.
[Translation: The problem is persistent, so there is something we really need to look into and the legal resource of passengers is not enough.]
