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PAL named world’s most improved airline

June 20, 2019 | 12:00am

PAL named worldâ��s most improved airline

Philippine Airlines president and COO Jaime Bautista receives PAL’s ‘World’s Most Improved Airline Award’ for 2019, as the carrier that achieved the biggest leap in product and service quality among a survey of over 350 leading airlines worldwide. The award was conferred by the global air transport rating organization Skytrax during the 2019 World Airline Awards held at the Paris Air Show Tuesday at the Musée de l’Air et de l’ Espace, Paris Le Bourget Airport, France.

MANILA, Philippines — Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) has been named as the world’s most improved airline for 2019 by international air transport rating organization Skytrax.

PAL was hailed as the most improved airline after the carrier achieved the biggest leap in product and service quality among a survey of over 350 leading airlines worldwide.

The award was conferred by the Skytrax during the 2019 World Airline Awards at the Paris Air Show Tuesday.

“We sincerely thank our PAL passengers for their votes and positive evaluation of PAL’s products and services.We also thank our PAL employees who made this possible through their efforts and hard work, caring for our passengers with ‘buong pusong alaga’ — wholehearted care,” said PAL president and COO Jaime Bautista, who is set to retire.

Skytrax has ranked PAL as the top 30 airline in the world, soaring 19 spots from 49th in 2018. Back in 2013, PAL was ranked 90th.

PAL also ranked high in other important categories such as World’s Best Business Class Comfort Amenities (Top 10), Best Airline Staff in Asia (Top 10), World’s Best Cabin Crew (Top 11), World’s Best Airport Services (Top 11) World’s Best Premium Economy Class (Top 11) and World’s Best Economy Class (Top 14).

Skytrax has also re-certified PAL as a four-star global airline based on comprehensive quality audits performed in December last year and January 2019.

The annual World Airline Awards, established by Skytrax in 1999, recognizes the best-performing airlines. The winners are chosen through an extensive “World Airline Survey” of more than 20 million travelers, encompassing over 100 nationalities and 335 airlines to make up the largest passenger satisfaction survey in the world.

PAL last year garnered the first-ever four-star global airline rating from Skytrax for a Philippine carrier, along with the “2nd Most Improved Airline” and “Top 30 cleanest cabin” awards.

PAL said the awards were the result of the flag carrier’s comprehensive top to bottom enhancements of aircraft, product and overall services across key performance areas.

It aims to become a global five-star airline by 2020, but Bautista earlier said the carrier may not be able to achieve the feat next year due to the country’s poor airport infrastructure.