Fed up with Cebu Pacific’s “lousy and terrible service”, a lawmaker is now pushing for the suspension of the franchise granted to ultra bilyonaryo Lance Gokongwei’s budget airline.
Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez proposed that Congress revoke Cebu Pacific’s operating privilege “until such time that it can provide satisfactory service to the riding public.”
Rodriguez dismissed Cebu Pacific’s string of excuses, ranging from a supposed global shortage of spare parts to runway debris damage and the onset of the rainy season, as inadequate explanations for the increasing number of complaints lodged by irate passengers over the past four months
“Even if that is true, that’s their own lookout. The public should not be made to suffer for their inefficiency. But to me, that is just palusot,” said Rodriguez.
He said the core issue does not lie in the availability of spare parts or maintenance, but rather in Cebu Pacific’s practice of selling plane tickets when they lack the necessary aircraft to accommodate passengers, regardless of the reason.
Rodriguez criticized the persistent overbooking, which results in the offloading of numerous booked passengers.
“They should stop selling tickets, period!” said Rodriguez.
Despite mounting complaints, Cebu Pacific has intensified its promotional fare offerings, while simultaneously grappling with increasing instances of overbooking, flight delays, and cancellations from March to June.
As recent as last week, the airline launched another wave of discounted fares, offering one-way base fares for as low as P1.
“The airline says, ‘Every Juan can fly.’ I say with their kind of deteriorated service, every Juan cannot fly,” he added.
Additionally, Rodriguez suggested that the government open the local travel market to foreign players to curb the market abuse perpetrated by Gokongwei’s Cebu Pacific.
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