Safety record of Philippine carriers

When an aircraft carrying 242 passengers crashes, it is understandable why some fear flying.

The case of Air India’s Flight 171, utilizing a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, that crashed minutes after taking off last June 12, leaving all but one dead, and killing 19 more on the ground, fuels recent air travel fears.

According to Aviation Safety Network, there have been at least 66 flight accidents across the globe so far this year, leading to 397 fatalities.

Of this, two were recorded in the Philippines, resulting in the loss of four lives.

The first involves a Beechcraft B300 King Air 500 – owned by military supplier Metrea Special Aerospace based in Washington – that crashed in an airfield in Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur. 

The crash killed all four occupants of the Beechcraft, including a 22-year-old US Marine, who was part of joint defense activities between Manila and Washington.

The second is a United Airlines flight, using by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, headed for Singapore. The plane, coming from San Francisco, California, experienced severe turbulence above Claveria, Cagayan.

Fortunately, all 189 passengers were safe, except for a cabin crew member who suffered serious injuries while four others sustained minor wounds.

Notably, none of these accidents involve a Philippine carrier. Industry observers say this is because they invest heavily on engineering and maintenance costs to ensure that each and every plane on their fleet is safe for navigation.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported that last year, the all-accident rate in flights was one in every 880,000, with seven fatal accidents out of 40.6 million flights.

However, IATA director-general Willie Walsh said that every fatality is one too many. And in aviation, the principle is to learn from every accident out of respect for those who lost their lives.

Cebu Pacific vice president for engineering and fleet management Shevantha Weerasekera said maintenance costs account for as much as 20% of operational expenses.

This is the largest item every year on Cebu Pacific’s operational expense, only behind fuel. Weerasekera said they buy spare parts from the original manufacturer or designated distributor, and though this may drive up costs, it ensures the highest reliability and safety.

In 2024, Cebu Pacific spent P15.96 billion for repairs and maintenance. This accounted for 17% of its P95.74-billion expenditure bill.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) said it is prepared to spend more for aircraft maintenance over the next five years to cover parts shortages right now. Airlines are dealing with supply backlogs for aircraft parts, as manufacturers are finding it hard to keep up with the post-pandemic demand.

“Learning from the aviation industry’s recent experiences with parts shortages and global supply chain crises, we remain committed to our robust continuous long-term planning process, which incorporates budget considerations for aircraft maintenance for the next five years,” PAL said.

Last year, PAL invested P22.61 billion for maintenance works, and this translated to 14% of its P160.04-billion total spending. The airline committed to retain aircraft maintenance as one of its highest items for operational expenses.

AirAsia Philippines, for its part, observes a reliability control program that allows it to detect issues ahead before they become a problem.

The airline has procured more parts to keep its operations uninterrupted by the shortage, and this has increased AirAsia’s technical dispatch reliability to 98.5%. At this rate, the airline is deploying aircraft almost all of the time without issues.

AirAsia Philippines sees no problems with its aircraft to warrant longer stay for maintenance checks.

Among the three airlines, Cebu Pacific operates the youngest fleet of aircraft, with an average age of 5.4 years for its Airbus A320s, A321s, A330s and ATR 72-600s. In 2024, it placed a $24-billion order for up to 152 aircraft from Airbus.

Weerasekera said Cebu Pacific prides itself in its agility to repair an aircraft issue in as quick as two hours, and it also minimizes unplanned maintenance to as few as possible.

“We have a very young fleet, so the issues that we face are minor in nature and are representative of the normal operational issues faced by any major airline. We also planned up to eight percent of aircraft time for maintenance in 2024, which means the unplanned maintenance downtime was minimal, and most defects are resolved within two to four hours,” Weerasekera said.

PAL maintains a fleet with an average age of 10.4 years, while AirAsia Philippines manages the oldest aircraft, reaching 16.05 years.

PAL said a lot of factors have to be considered before an aircraft is retired. However, PAL noted it retires jets earlier than industry practice of keeping them for as long as 20 years.

Cebu Pacific vice president for safety, quality and security Manny Ilagan said these interventions that carriers invest on year in, year out for the welfare of passengers.

PAL said aviation is still the safest mode of transport because carriers make the due diligence to invest in safety.