A LoyaltyLobby reader forwarded me an email that she had sent to CAA (UK regulator) after Philippine Airlines had refused to rebook her from London to Sydney on other airlines after Manila flight on November 24 was canceled.
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Here’s the email from the reader:
I would like to beg for your urgent intervention in my case of flight cancellation.
I was set to take the following flights out of London Heathrow on 24 Nov 17.
London (LHR), GB
Fri, 24 Nov 2017, 22:20
Terminal: TERMINAL 3Manila (MNL), PH
Sat, 25 Nov 2017, 19:15
Terminal: TERMINAL 2Philippine Airlines
PR 721
Manila (MNL), PH
Sat, 25 Nov 2017, 22:30
Terminal: TERMINAL 2Sydney (SYD), AU
Sun, 26 Nov 2017, 09:30
Terminal: TERMINAL 1 INTEHowever, I was informed by the Philippines Airlines PR today that the first leg of the flight has been cancelled. I was offered to take the flight on the following day, namely 25 Nov, which, however, doesn’t fit my schedule.
Citing EC261, I then requested PR to book me other flights, including flights of other carriers on 24 Nov. However, the customer service representatives, whom I was advised by the flight change email to contact, said they are not authorised to book flights of other carriers. They claimed that only the customer relations officer at the airport is authorised to do so. I then asked them to put me through to these customer relations officer, or anyone who is authorised/competent to reroute me at the earliest opportunity, but the customer service representative said they could not do so. I did bring their attention to CAA letter to Ryanair published in late Sept. I told them that CAA had already made it public that it was utterly wrong that an airlines are not obligated to book flights of other carriers.
In effect, the operational practice of PR has frustrated the spirit of the rerouting obligation under EC261, esp Art 8. Since passengers would never be able to reach the authorised staff, it is practically impossible for passengers to be booked on alternatives flights which depart at the earliest opportunity.
In the short term, I beg your authority to urgently contact the Philippines Airlines and direct them to offer me the rerouting options as prescribed under EC261.
My preferred alternative flight options (in ascending priority) are as follows.
- SQ 321 LHR to SIN; SQ 231 SIN to SYD
- CX254 LHR to HKG; CX111 HKG to SYD
- NH 212 LHR to HND; NH 879 HND to SYD
- TG917 LHR to BKK; TG 475 BKK to SYD
- OZ522 LHR to ICN; OZ601 ICN to SYD
In the medium term, I believe there might be a need to carry out enforcement action against the Philippines Airlines as their standing operational practice is systematically frustrating passengers’ due rights to rerouting.
I also attach the live chat record, which testifies PR has persistently denied my right to rerouting.
May I ask for your urgent intervention?
Look forward to seeing your reply.
Conclusion
Seems that Philippine Airlines is basically buying time here and hoping that passengers either won’t notice this change before day of travel and accept to travel day later OR that there are no other options and basically are forced to.
It is clear that the airline should have rebooked the passenger in question over the phone and not requested to go to the airport to utilize these mysterious “Customer Relation Officers”. I would assume that this is just the basic rebooking/ticketing desk. The reader emailed me also the copy of the chat that she had with the airline.
If Philippine Airlines here refuses to rebook the passenger, she could go ahead and purchase the ticket on competing airline and sue Philippine Airlines in the UK court. Based on the information received, this should be clear case.
Alternative option is to take the flight day later and claim the 600 euro compensation for the delay plus the duty to care (hotels + meals) in both London and Manila.
![Airfare of the Day [Business Class] AEROMEXICO Madrid to Sao Paulo from 898€](https://cdn3.loyaltylobby.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/xbuilding-ga29091764_1280-sao-paulo-120x86.jpg.pagespeed.ic.VQ8lWfmLI6.jpg)
Hmmm strange email wording, was that email addressed to the CAA or did she honestly ask for your “authority” in this matter? I hope she knows that LoyaltyLobby has no “authority” whatsoever 😉
But on the topic: this isn’t the first and won’t be the last time that airlines simply ignore EU law, unless the likes of CAA etc. finally take action about this shambolic situation!
Sorry if I was unclear. This email was sent to CAA and CC’ed to me.
That makes much more sense then 😉
Maybe I know why. In order for PAL to rebook you into other airlines flights during involuntary schedule changes, they should have pre existing interlining agreements with other airlines such as SQ, BA, CX and others. If PAL doesnt have interlining agreements with those airlines, they really cant rebook you to that airlines according to IATA rules. That is where airlines alliances can be beneficial. During trouble, they can lean on their partner airlines to take on their passengers. On the bright side, I know Etihad airways, malaysia airlines and ANA codeshares some flights with PAL. Maybe they have interlining agreeemnts with PAL.
The absence of inter line agreement isn’t a good or valid excuse. In the worst case, PR could go to an Ota and buy a one way cash ticket for the passenger. Isn’t rocket science, it it? You just need a credit card, right?
Philippine Airlines is a strange beast.
My recent dealings with them for a cancelled business class flight from Dubai to Manila to Melbourne also required me to leave 1 day later. I agreed and then they came back and said they must downgrade me to economy as the new flights did not have the same fare class available. They only had full fare business class seats available. I argued that fare class is irrelevant in this situation, especially since there were still empty business class seats. Thankfully I booked via Expedia USA and they escalated it since it made no sense to Expedia either. I did finally get confirmed into business class but they offered no compensation for the 24 hour delay.
Philippine Airlines has a long way to go before it can even be a 2-3 star airline, never mind a 4 star airline.
That is crazy. They should have rebooked you on Emirates rather than having to take the flights a day later.
I think it is not uncommon for airlines outside ‘well regulated markets’ to use this kind of argumentation. I had a flight with Emirates a few years ago where irregularity caused me to miss my connection in Dubai and EK refused to reroute me on the next available flight to CPH (via Frankfurt instead) as there where no available seats in my fare class. I also tried to tell them fare class was irrelevant, but they did not care. Only through hours of persistant efforts, I eventually got my way. My suggestion. Spend a little extra and fly an airline from a country that protects consumer’s rights (as well as employees’ for that matter).
It seems that Philippine Airlines is basically buying time here and hoping that passengers either won’t notice this change before the day of travel and accept to travel a day later.