Cebu Pacific’s apology for flight “disruptions” after a Senate hearing, attended by Alexander Lao, the airline’s chief commercial officer, is completely unacceptable. Simply saying “sorry” is not enough to address the numerous complaints against Cebu Pacific. No passenger deserves delayed or overbooked flights as a regular occurrence. The airline’s attribution of these disruptions to fleet availability issues does not solve the underlying problem but may just be an excuse to escape from offering better service.
It begs the question: Does Cebu Pacific prioritize a quality management system? It seems that the concept of customer satisfaction is not a priority in their vocabulary or operations manual. The airline’s slogan, “Let’s fly every Juan,” may also be contributing to its incompetent service, as its employees seem oblivious to the issues faced by customers.
Allow me to share the reasons why I have chosen to boycott Cebu Pacific. In May 2022, my daughter and I had a Manila-Tacloban flight that was rescheduled just days before our departure, despite being booked months in advance for the May 2022 elections. Instead of a direct flight, we were redirected to Calbayog, which caused inconvenience and additional expenses as we had to travel from Calbayog to Catbalogan, and then to Eastern Samar. This was a terrible experience as we wanted to vote in our hometown, Taft.
A similar incident occurred in October 2021 when four family members and I flew with Cebu Pacific. Our checked-in luggage, which we had paid for in advance and used web check-in for, was not allowed because the airline claimed we were seven minutes late. It was ridiculous that we could take the flight without our luggage. Our request to have our baggage loaded on the next available flight was denied. The only option provided was for us to call a relative to pick up our offloaded luggage since Cebu Pacific does not have a storage facility. As a result, my cousin had to book the next available flight via Philippine Airlines with our baggage, while my daughters and I proceeded with our trip. This ruined our bonding moment and caused a mix-up in our arrival schedule in Tacloban due to the flight delay.
Cebu Pacific has shown other signs of poor service as well. They once denied my request to label my checked-in luggage as “fragile,” a common practice in other airlines. They also forced my daughter to place her laptop inside her hand-carry instead of carrying it separately. Additionally, they refused to allow in two small cartons of foodstuff that weighed far below 20 kilos, insisting on their one baggage/20-kilo policy. No alternative was provided other than for me to leave the airport to buy packaging tape downtown. It is puzzling why Cebu Pacific cannot provide their check-in counters with packaging tape. Is this just a tactic to make passengers pay more in baggage fees? Furthermore, they disallowed a small bottle of atchara that my aunt had prepared, citing “safety” reasons even though the bottle was properly sealed and packed inside my checked-in luggage. I had to find a guard outside to take care of the atchara, despite being honest enough to inform the Cebu Pacific staff about it.
When it comes to addressing complaints, Cebu Pacific does not have staff members who attend to customers personally. Instead, one has to deal with an automated system that consumes a significant amount of time but provides no resolution. If Philippine Airlines and AirAsia can have human customer service representatives, why can’t Cebu Pacific do the same? Is it a cost-cutting measure?
The incidents mentioned above are not isolated cases. A lawyer colleague of mine was shocked to find out that he had to pay for his luggage upon check-in despite purchasing add-on baggage beforehand. He ended up paying double due to a “system error” attributed to the confusion. A doctor friend of mine and several senators also had negative experiences with the airline at the hearing.
As a proactive customer, I have given Cebu Pacific the benefit of the doubt in the past, but I have come to realize that it is not worth it anymore. Why should I continue to support Cebu Pacific when its competitors offer a superior flying experience with fewer hassles and at cheaper prices? As someone who finds therapy in traveling, I have already made bookings for not only this year but also for summer 2024. However, I will never consider flying with Cebu Pacific again.
By Belen Docena-Asuelo
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