PAL gets its newest Airbus A350-900
France. We arrived from London for an overnight stay at the Renaissance Hotel and had dinner at the Market Garden Restaurant together with 15 media personalities from Manila. I’m the only one from Cebu that Philippine Airlines (PAL) invited for PAL’s first Airbus A350 XWB (extra wide body) delivery that it has ordered six of such wonderful aircrafts with an option to purchase another six when PAL president and chief operating officer (COO) Dr. Jaime Bautista signed a purchase agreement with Airbus Industries president and CEO Fabrice Bregier during the Singapore Airshow.
The A350-900 is configured by PAL to have a business class, premium economy and regular economy. This air-craft is capable of flying non-stop from Manila to New York on a full load. This flight would probably take at least 15-hours depending on the weather. A remarkable advantage of the Airbus 350-900 is its long-range capacity and lowest operating costs of any aircraft offering a wide body configuration. The main cabin is as wide as a 747 Jumbo jet, but only needs two Rolls Royce Trent engines and therefore it is a low-cost aircraft to fly.
PAL also signed a US$600 million order of engines from Rolls Royce for Trent XWB engines to power the six A350-900 it ordered in Singapore. The Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engine is the world’s most efficient engine flying many world airlines today. Our official turnover for the delivery of the A350-900 is tomorrow, so I can only report this for my Tuesday column.
But with PAL getting its new status as a 4-star airline, the six new A350-900 will certainly appeal to many passen-gers. On our way to London, we flew PAL’s Boeing 777, which was co-piloted by my son Jesus Valeriano (JV) Avila. It was the first ever time for me to ride a plane with my son and it’s a proud moment to see your only son come up to your seat to greet you.
The next day we flew to Toulouse on a British Airways jet to Toulouse, which is the aviation industry hub for Eu-rope. One potential problem that Airbus is facing is what would happen to the aviation company when Britain goes on its Brexit? The wing span of Airbus airplanes is made in England, while the rest are made elsewhere in Europe.
Last Tuesday when we arrived in Heathrow International Airport, I was taken aback that we landed on the runway at 7:00 p.m. after a 13-hour flight and the sunshine was still on. It only darkened in London by 9:00 p.m. I guess it is due to the fact that I haven’t come to Europe on July, when the weather is hot. There are 17 members of the media on this trip and I’m the only one from Cebu and yes we have four Philippine Star journalists with us on this trip.
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The critics of President Rodrigo Duterte said Monday that he instructed the Consultative Committee that is draft-ing a new Constitution to include an elected transitional president following the adoption of a new federal charter. Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque quoted the President as saying: “I am willing to cut my term to be co-terminus with start of [the] transition period [which] the committee agreed.”
Steipping down from power the moment we accept the draft Constitution that will become a Federal State. The President added that his stepping down would remove all suspicions involving the adoption of a new form of govern-ment. “I am tired. [I am] ready to give it to somebody else,” said President Duterte.
The whole trouble with our Federal system of governance is not the system itself, but rather the people who supported then Pres. Benigno “Pnoy” Aquino, III are against changing the charter. Who are these people? Just to name the poisonous few, there’s former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, Jr and former Comelec Chairman Christian and Solita Monsod.
A couple of days ago, BusinessWorld came up with the various governments that have adopted a Federal sys-tem and you will see that most of the governments in a Federal system have made it to economic growth. It is for this very reason why Roque said the President had reversed his earlier position that he could serve as a transition leader until 2022. While this is not yet final… at least we know were we stand on the growth economy.
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