Philippine Airlines certified as a 4-Star airline

Philippine Airlines (PAL) has been certified as a 4-Star airline by Skytrax, the international air transport rating organisation.

PAL joins 40 other airlines in this prestigious category, and is the first airline in the Philippines to earn a 4-Star rating.

The rating is a mark of quality distinction that recognises excellent standards of Product and Staff service across different assessment categories for both the Onboard and Airport environment.

PAL achieved the rating after Skytrax conducted a rigorous audit of its inflight and on ground service for both international and domestic flights and noted major enhancements to its end-to-end passenger experience and distinct service offering, called Buong Pusong Alaga.

Dr. Lucio C. Tan, PAL’s chairman and CEO, said: “This is a big win for the Philippines. We are elated by this recognition, which is a victory for the more than 7,000 members of the Philippine Airlines family. Our achievement is the country’s achievement and we share this with all Filipinos around the globe.”

Edward Plaisted, Skytrax CEO said: “This recognises the great improvements that the airline has introduced over the last two years, both in terms of product change and development and enhancement of the front-line staff service.

Jaime J. Bautista receives the Skytrax 4-Star award from Edward Plaisted, watched by members of the PAL inflight team

“New and retrofitted aircraft have played an important part in the quality improvement process, and this looks set to develop further when Philippine Airlines introduces the A350 into their fleet.

“We look for consistency of quality in the 4-Star rating, and we look to Philippine Airlines to ensure this is duly delivered to customers.”

The rating upgrade is a key result of a multi-year, top-to-bottom, end-to-end enhancement of the Philippine flag carrier, according to Jaime J. Bautista, PAL’s president and COO.

“Our Get That Star journey began in 2016. Our efforts over the last two years have borne fruit,” he said. “Since 2016, we have embarked on a journey of rolling out in-flight and on-ground innovations, opened new routes, increased connectivity across PAL’s route network, added new aircraft to our fleet and importantly, invested in the Buong Pusong Alaga (whole-hearted) training of all our cabin crew, ground crew and service providers domestically and internationally in order to enhance the passenger travel experience and earn a higher Skytrax rating.”