Cebu Pacific confirms another round of job cuts

Budget carrier Cebu Pacific on Wednesday confirmed that another round of job cuts may be looming, as the company continues to face challenges with travel restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to Cebu Pacific spokesperson Charo Logarta-Lagamon, the carrier is now conducting a review to look into possible retrenchments.

"Bunsod nga nitong challenges brought about by COVID-19, partikular sa mga airlines, it is now necessary for us para i-review, i-review at tignan ng maigi ang entire business ng Cebu Pacific, and resources niya and really transform the airline para i-meet 'yung future market conditions," she said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV.

"'Yun nga, dahil dito sa transformation process na ito, magkakaroon talaga ng rightsizing ng Cebu Pacific. Kumbaga, ia-akma 'yung entire orgnaization kung ano ang magiging future trend and this is necessary for us to do para i-sustain po ang airline for the future," she added.

Lagamon did not give out further details, as she said the review is currently ongoing, and efforts are being made to minimize the number of employees to be removed.

"Wala pa po talagang final kung ilan 'yung maapektuhang empleyado kasi ginagawa pa po ang lahat para hindi humantong sa ganon," she said.

"Talagang nire-review pa po lahat talaga and rest assured naman po that whatever decisions will be made will be done with transparency, sensibility, and responsibility," added Lagamon.

In a separate mobile message, Lagamon clarified that the first batch of job cuts involved newly-hired cabin crew who were let go and their employment did not push through.

"Cebu Pacific is undergoing a transformation process that aims to ensure the long-term sustainability of the business, given the expected changes int ravel demand and consumer behavior," she said in a separate text message.

"We expect travel recovery to happen over a longer period, with COVID-19 negatively impacting the aviation industry," she added.

Commercial air travel to and from Metro Manila has been restricted since March, and only resumed earlier this month after the easing of the community quarantine.

Just last week, 1Aviation — the ground handling firm that serves Cebu Pacific flights — said it will let go of another 1,000 employees as the industry struggles to bounce back from the impact of COVID-19. This is on top of the 400 earlier retrenched in April.

Cebu Pacific, along with other carriers Philippine Airlines and AirAsia, has already earlier appealed for the government to provide P8.6 billion in assistance to the airline industry given such losses.

For its part, the government said it is now looking for ways to assist the hard-hit aviation industry given the mass layoffs.

"Titingnan po natin kung paano pa natin matutulungan ang aviation industry, alam po natin napakadaming hanapbuhay, napakaraming pamilyang nakasandal sa aviation industry para sa hanapbuhay," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said over the weekend. —KBK/RSJ, GMA News