RIYADH, 5 January 2005 — The decision of the Philippine Airlines (PAL) to end its presence in Saudi Arabia has caused misgivings among not a few Filipinos.

“Let us save PAL,” one regular passenger of the Philippine national carrier said in an e-mail to friends and compatriots, warning that national pride was at stake.

Jay Ebora said it was incumbent upon President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to intervene and help PAL stay in the Kingdom.

PAL’s management had earlier said it was suspending its flight operations between Manila and Riyadh effective March 2 after two decades of direct flights.

In fact, PAL is withdrawing from the entire Middle East market, saying its commercial viability has been rendered unsustainable.

“It is with extreme regret that our management has arrived at this decision of ending our online presence here and that such decision did not come without due consideration of the painful effect it will have on our loyal customers, generous business partners, and wonderful friends in the industry,” Dapo said in a letter dated Jan. 2 that was copied to Arab News.

In a circular to travel and cargo agents dated Jan. 2, 2006, Celso R. Dapo, PAL’s country manager in Saudi Arabia clarified that difficult circumstances evolving daily in the aviation industry have weighed down heavily on the airline’s ability to shield itself “from forces that continue to erode the airline’s determination to serve the travel needs of many Filipinos in the region.”

“It is with extreme regret that our management has arrived at this decision of ending our online presence here and that such decision did not come without due consideration of the painful effect it will have on our loyal customers, generous business partners, and wonderful friends in the industry,” Dapo said.

Ronnie Abeto, a community leader based in Yanbu, said some sort of intervention was needed because of the implication of PAL’s pullout.

“PAL’s decision to close operations would degrade our already degrading identity as Filipinos in Saudi Arabia,” said Abeto, who had been among those patronizing PAL despite its marginalized presence in the Kingdom.

Out of nationalism and patriotism, Abeto said he had taken PAL flights last year even if it meant flying the 1,600-kilometer distance between Yanbu and Riyadh. After a shutdown in 1998 as a result of a crippling pilots’ strike, PAL managed to restore only its Manila-Riyadh flights, abandoning flights to Jeddah and Dammam.

Abeto said while the business viability cited by the airline was understandable, “PAL’s sales and marketing department have to do their job to be more competitive...”

Virgilio Montero of Jubail lamented that while he had shown his loyalty to the national carrier by taking PAL flights even though he has to travel to Riyadh, the airline has opted to chicken out amid tough competition.

“It is such a shame that we OFWs may not have our own flag carrier flying over the ME (Middle East)skies... Whoever recommended this ... does not really know the market especially the KSA Market (with at least 800,000+ OFWs),” Montero said in an e-mail to other Filipinos.

“It could also mean that their overseas marketing department did not really do their real homework and just made made-up market reports from the comforts of their airconditioned offices,” he said.

Reynaldo Orbon in Dammam said there was really something wrong with the way PAL operated. “With the big number of Filipino expatriates in the Kingdom, how can PAL say they are losing...?” he wondered.

Montero and Orbon also offered ways for PAL to improve its services and become attractive to other passengers.

They said it is not uncommon to hear negative comments from passengers about unfriendly PAL staff and flight attendants, which sometime aggravates tension when the airline’s flights are delayed.

Filipinos who have stopped flying PAL often cited the flight delays as their main reason for taking other airlines. Because of the delays, PAL had been jokingly referred to as “plane always late.”

PAL’s decision to withdraw from the Middle East comes as a surprise, considering that it had recently announced that it had recovered from its losses and that it would acquire new Airbuses.