Not elderly-passenger-friendly

Cebu Pacific, which has boasted of being the country’s biggest airline after having dislodged flag carrier Philippine Airlines in just a few years of operation, is definitely not elderly-passenger-friendly as I have found out during the few times that I flew to Cebu from Manila.

I travel to Cebu City almost every year to visit our parents’ graves in the idyllic village of Hagnaya in the northernmost part of Cebu. I always took Cebu Pacific since its fares used to be cheaper than PAL’s.

On Jan. 9, my brother Gil, who is a resident of Chicago, and I took Cebu Pacific for the Manila-Cebu-Manila trip to pay homage to our departed parents. I found out that Cebu Pacific fares are no longer cheap. On top of that the airline’s services have deteriorated.

For example, during my previous trips, we never used the tube but instead we were herded to a shuttle bus that took us to the waiting aircraft at the tarmac of Naia Terminal 3. I thought this has been discontinued after we have heard that the facilities of Terminal 3 are now comparable to other airports in the world.

But in my latest trip, we still used the shuttle bus and had to climb the steep stairs to the aircraft. When you are young and strong, this would not be a problem, but for a senior citizen like me who is also asthmatic, this was a big ordeal. I gasped for breath when I reached the door of the plane and thought I would have a heart attack.

The airline did not assign a staff to assist elderly passengers like me to ascend the stairs. Fortunately after a few minutes of rest, my normal breathing was back.

There are only two reasons why Cebu Pacific has insisted on using the tarmac instead of the tubes for embarking and disembarking passengers.

One is that there are not enough tubes to accommodate incoming and outgoing planes. This is a problem for the Terminal 3 management to fix.

But the second reason, of which Cebu Pacific is answerable, is that the airline wants to save on costs by not paying for the use of the tubes.

If something happens to elderly passengers or those with disabilities who are being forced to use the tarmac instead of the tube, Cebu Pacific could be held criminally liable. Then, Cebu Pacific would not only be the biggest, but also the worst, airline in the country.

ALITO L. MALINAO,
[email protected]