MANILA, Philippines – Mahigit 15,000 pasahero ng tatlong air carriers sa bansa ang apektado ng software update para sa Airbus A320, matapos makansela o ma-delay ang nasa isang daang flights.
Sa forum nitong Sabado, Nobyembre 29, sinabi ni Acting Transportation Secretary Giovanni Lopez na nagkansela ang Cebu Pacific at Philippine Airlines ng 78 domestic flights dahil sa software update ng kanilang A320 at A321 Airbus fleets.
“About 14,000 passengers total were affected by the cancellations that have been implemented by PAL and Cebu Pacific. We don’t have final numbers. It’s a running total of who are affected by the delays,” ani Lopez.
“But because of the mitigating measures, we hope that there will be no incremental increases to this and that we are able to contain the situation so far,” dagdag pa niya.
Iniulat naman ng budget carrier na AirAsia na bagamat may mga apektadong mga pasahero dahil sa software update ay mababa naman ang impact nito sa kanilang mga eroplano.
“We have only one aircraft affected. And that aircraft is already now flying and already compliant. And we have a total of 11 flights delayed and 1,545 passengers affected,” ayon kay Gomer Monreal, AirAsia director ng flight operations.
Inaasahang makukumpleto ang upgrade activities ng mga kompanyang ito ngayong araw, Nobyembre 30.
“We have 28 aircraft that were affected, as mentioned by the Secretary. Eleven have already completed the software updates and we are working on the balance of the 17 aircraft,” pahayag ni Philippine Airlines Vice President for Corporate Affairs Salvador Britanico.
“We expect completion within the next 20 hours, so most likely by lunch tomorrow, that has been completed,” dagdag pa niya.
Para naman sa Cebu Pacific, sinabi ni corporate affairs chief Michael Shau na, “At 10:30 a.m., we now only have 22 remaining aircraft that we need the software update and that we feel will be completed by Sunday.”
“We again apologize for any inconveniences this has caused to the arriving public. We have canceled over 66 flights,” sinabi pa ni Shau.
Umapela naman si Lopez sa publiko ng pang-unawa at sinabing ang mga delay ay nangyayari sa buong mundo at kailangan ang update para sa kaligtasan ng mga pasahero. RNT/JGC
