I was "made to starve", he decried. "I suffered of shabby treatment by personnel of the Cebu Pacific Air (CPA) while waiting after my early morning flight from Manila to Iloilo was cancelled" without his knowledge last July 29, 2007, Dr. Efrain Francis G. Encanto, professor of the University of San Agustin (USA), Iloilo City blasted the airline management in a strongly-worded letter to Lance Gokongwei, the airline’s chief executive officer, dated August 10, 2007.
"This is a letter of complaint regarding the inhumane, negligent and incompetent management of your airline, Cebu Pacific Air (CPA), and it staff, particularly during the cancelled 5:15 AM flight of 19 July 2007 or Flight 5J451 from Manila to Iloilo ," Encanto fired in his letter.
Encanto, newly elected president of the University of San Agustin Employees Union-Federation of Free Workers (USAEU-FFW), said the airline’s check-in agent, Marisol Bautista, only informed him that his flight had been cancelled when he checked-in at 2:30 am and that he and the other passengers in the 5:15 am flight would be transferred to another flight scheduled at 8:25 am.
"I inquired why I was not informed in advance of the said cancellation and Miss Bautista said that the cancellation was just announced at 2:30 am, upon my arrival at the check-in counter," narrated Encanto.
"With this," he added, "I asked her what I am supposed to do until 8:25 am since it was only 2:30 am. She suggested that I could just take my seat inside the pre-departure area and maybe sleep in one of the chairs.
Encanto said he checked-in for flight leaving Manila at 8:25 am and entered the pre-departure area "having no choice."
Inside, Encanto said he proceeded to the Passenger Assistance Counter and asked for the station manager, Christina Juanillo, but overheard her on the radio muttering something and met him only after 30 minutes.
SIGNING OF CONTRACT
"I made it clear to her that the reason I booked the 5:15 am flight was because I had a pressing business meeting, a signing of a 5-year lease contract on the building that I manage, between 8-9 am that same morning," Encanto wrote. "I insisted that I must be at Iloilo before 7:00 am. She promised to find a way for me to be able to meet my client that morning."
But at 4:40 am, Encanto said Juanillo and Bautista informed him they were not able to avail a seat at either Philippine Airlines or Air Philippines.
"I made her (Juanillo) realized that her irresponsible actions could cause the non-signing of our business contract and would mean not only the loss of a 5-year lease but also the loss of my integrity from my client for not arriving on time of a scheduled appointment," Encanto added.
He also complained to Emerson Bandoma, assistant station manager, who approached him that he was not properly informed of the cancellation of his flight and that the airline should have prepared a contingency plan for passengers who were not informed.
Bandoma came back at 7 am to give him a certification that he was one of the passengers in the cancelled flight.
A certain Marty B. Marty of Customer Service met him in the exit door of the pre-departure area and apologized in behalf of the company, he said.
"However, I informed him that the phrase ‘I am sorry, sir’ is the most abused phrased in Cebu Pacific Air. Further, I called his attention on the matter that the Customer Service office of Cebu Pacific Air is a useless office since check-in operations start at 2:00 am but their office opens at 6:00 am. Passengers in the early morning flight have nowhere to go in case of problems."
DELAYED FLIGHT
To add insult, Encanto said the indicated boarding time of a flight leaving at 8:22 am was at 7:55 am. "However, we were made to board at 8:25 am and the plane’s actual departure was at 9:20 am.
He added: "Upon boarding the aircraft, I immediately requested the chief flight stewardess, a certain Jen, that I be served breakfast since I was made to starve since 2:30 am by Cebu Pacific Air. I took my seat and after a while, a lady ground crew came over to inform me that my breakfast will be served in Iloilo Airport upon arrival."
"I informed the ground crew that it would be another hour of waiting. I also suggested that they could get access to food at the pre-departure area canteen. She left without saying a word and no food was ever served."
Encanto decried that the plane took off "after 45 minutes of waiting."
When he requested from Jen a glass of water and a teaspoon of sugar, he was allegedly told that there was none.
"I explained to her that I am a diabetic person and Cebu Pacific Air had starved me since 2:30 am wherein nothing was ever served to me while waiting for the 8:25 am flight," Encanto explained. "She explained to me that her refusal was done upon ground instructions of not serving food since we, of Flight 5J451, were properly informed of the flight cancellation. Yet, she subsequently admitted that they were informed of the cancellation the night before."
He said while talking to Jen, "two other flight stewardesses were pulling the tray of food to be sold to the passengers. I reminded Jen that I was never informed of the said cancellation and was not even offered any food to take while waiting for Flight 5J453 or the 8:25 am flight."
NO FIRST AID KIT
Encanto said he inquired from Jen if the aircraft had a first-aid kit or equipment to assist any passengers with emergency situations. "She informed me that the aircraft was not equipped with any first-aid equipment and that they were not trained to deliver first-aid, rather, they were to only assist passengers," he wrote.
Encanto said he told Jen that his request for breakfast "was not only for me but was also made in behalf of the other passengers of the cancelled flight."
He said, he expressed to the flight attendant his "suspicion that Flight 5J451 and Flight 5J453 may have had less than half of the seating capacity for passengers combined that the airline decided to cancel flight 5J451 and place its passengers in the 8:25AM flight to save on cost."
After 15 minutes, the flight crew came back to him, he said, and informed him that the Captain of the aircraft "would like to see me upon landing at the Iloilo Airport ."
When the plane landed, Encanto said he was the last passenger to get off the plane and the flight attendant "gave me a sign to enter the cockpit where the Captain was waiting."
He asked the Captain, he said, that he would talk to him at the Iloilo station manager’s office after which a ground crew gave him a breakfast in a Styrofoam box and a bottle of water.
Encanto concluded: "I proceeded to the office of Miss Rosalie Gamutan, the Iloilo station manager, and waited for her for another 30 minutes. I narrated to her my ordeal since 2:30 am. After our discussion, I asked why the Captain of the aircraft had not shown up. She promised that she would be responsible of informing the Captain of what transpired during the discussion. I reached home at 12:30 pm."
INVESTIGATION
When sought for comment, Cebu Pacific Air Corporate Communications Manager RG Orense said they were still verifying the facts in the allegations made by Encanto as they just received the complaint-letter.
"We are still investigating and checking the details and we will issue a statement after we have done with our investigation," vowed Orense . /MP
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