By Ma. Stella F. Arnaldo / Special to the BusinessMirror
DELTA Air Lines will be looking to increase its market share in Manila and focus on raising its competitive edge as a United States carrier.
The airline is also seeing an increasing number of foreign businessmen with the continuing growth in the Philippine economy.
Newly appointed Delta Country Manager-Philippines Patricia Celis said she will “focus on leveraging strategic opportunities to improve the airline’s competitive position in this important market.”
She will also be responsible in managing overall sales activities, administration and industry affairs in the Philippines, a news statement said.
She told the BusinessMirror that a majority of the carrier’s passengers are “Filipino-Americans traveling to the Philippines visiting friends and relatives.” But she added, “We do have an increasing number of corporate passengers as the global companies set up their offices in the country.”
And while there were “no plans to increase frequencies during the peak holiday season to the Philippines this year…we are expecting very high load factors during this season due to balikbayan traffic.”
Delta flies daily to Narita, Japan, with continuing services to seven mainland gateways—Atlanta, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK, Portland, and Seattle.
It operates a 747-400 aircraft that can accommodate 376 passengers. The carrier continues to fly with an “average load factor of over 85 percent,” which means 85 percent of the seats available for ticketing are usually booked and sold. She did not say how many passengers were carried by Delta last year.
Celis also hailed the government’s plans to build a new passenger terminal for budget carriers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), as well as studies for a new international airport to replace the Manila airport in the future.
“It’s great to see that, the government is looking at resolving the Naia congestion. Hopefully, the government does not forget to look into proper road infrastructure and transportation facilities to make it convenient for passengers.”
She confessed that, like other carriers, Delta is also affected by the traffic congestion at the Naia.
She said the carrier’s “airport customer service team works hard to make sure that the door to the aircraft closes five minutes prior to departure. While we usually make our D0 goal, in fact [it was] 100 percent for September 2015, the aircraft sometimes sits at the gate or taxi way up to 20 minutes for clearance to push back or take off.”
But “on arrivals, we have experienced circling the area three times before a landing clearance is secured,” Celis said.
D0 (or D:00) is the time departure on the tickets, wherein the pilot releases the parking brake on the plane. This is what US Department of Transportation uses for on-time performance ratings of airlines.
During the open forum at the Philippine Economic Briefing of government economic managers on September 30, Transportation Undersecretary Rene Limcaoco said there was a “definite plan to move the airport” to a site that will service greater Metro Manila, as the existing Naia airport is only capable to handle flights up to 2023.” The government will also support the expansion of the Clark International Airport in Pampanga.
He added that three sites “[will] be proposed to the government and given in November. The final site will be determined this year.” The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is working with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) “to identify the sites.” Pressed for details, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio A. Abaya said in a text message: “The Jica location will be finalized in February or March next year. The three sites being referred to are Sangley A, Sangley B and Central Manila Bay.”
Abaya added: “These are all offshore proposals, i.e., reclamation, because no way can anyone purchase the required land for a modern international airport in the site convenient and accessible to passengers and ideal for design requirements. [The Central Manila Bay site] is further out from the coasts so it won’t affect residential areas along reclaimed areas.”
In previous interviews with the media, the DOTC chief has been quoted as saying that Sangley Point was the recommended site for the proposed new airport, and Jica was scheduled to give the agency the feasibility study for said location in June. Ideally, the new airport should be operational by 2025.
The Naia currently handles 34 million passengers, far exceeding its original capacity of 25 million. And with only two runways, domestic and international carriers continue to experience flight delays.
This is one of the reasons the Aquino administration continues to delay its ratification of the Asean open-skies policy for capital cities, moving to protect Manila from more international carriers. It is the only country that has not signed said Protocols 5 and 6 of the 2009 Multilateral Agreement on Air Services that would give Asean airlines unlimited third, fourth and fifth freedom rights to operate between capital cities. (See “Asean open skies will go on sans Manila OK” in the BusinessMirror, September 18, 2015.)
But Celis said the Philippines “should welcome the opportunity to open up the secondary airports in support of local tourism and economic growth of other cities. Philippine local carriers have been adding new destinations to their portfolio and, given the current situation with fuel, should be able to take advantage of this.”
Celis’s appointment as country manager-Philippines sales and affairs took effect on October 1. In a news statement, Vinay Dube, Delta senior vice president for Asia Pacific, said: “Delta has proudly served the Philippines for over 65 years. Appointing a talented local leader is consistent with Delta’s continued long-term commitment to the Philippines. We are confident that Patricia will further grow Delta’s presence in the market.” She started her career in the airline industry in 1997 as marketing support for American Airlines in the Philippines. She joined Northwest Airlines in 2003 as a sales and marketing manager for the Philippines.
Since Northwest’s merger with Delta in 2008, Celis had increasing responsibility, including overseeing Guam sales team. She also successfully supported Delta’s expansion of a new nonstop service in Sydney including closely working with joint partner Virgin Australia to enhance product awareness in Australia. Most recently she oversaw the Philippines, Australia and Micronesia as a sales and marketing manager.