Why I Pity Philippine Airlines (and it's not their fault they have crappy planes flying to the US)
Since the late 90's PAL has been a troubled national carrier. Coming from a proud heritage of being Asia's First, it's now seen as a tired, old and rickety airline (like it's planes.)
There are many reasons for this, and surprisingly, it seems that it's not entirely their fault.
Let's focus first on PR 102 - MNL to LAX flight, which with God's grace landed safely with 402 people on board.
Turns out, this Boeing 747-400 is pretty vintage already, having taken flight back in 1993, much like the troubled PR102 flight back in August 5 which had to make an emergency stop over in Japan.
Of course PAL management considered replacing the planes already with some really nice an modern Boeing 777 planes, but alas, because of our government's incapacity to comply with FAA standards, the Philippines and all it's airlines were demoted to Category 2.
Under Category 2, Carriers are not allowed to increase flights or add destinations, nor are they allowed to change aircraft or render significant modifications.
According to the FAA Website (http://www.faa.gov/about/initiatives/iasa/definitions/) a Country would be in Category 2 listing when:
the country lacks laws or regulations necessary to support the certification and oversight of air carriers in accordance with minimum international standards;
the CAA lacks the technical expertise, resources, and organization to license or oversee air carrier operations;
the CAA does not have adequately trained and qualified technical personnel;
the CAA does not provide adequate inspector guidance to ensure enforcement of, and compliance with, minimum international standards;
AND
the CAA has insufficient documentation and records of certification and inadequate continuing oversight and surveillance of air carrier operations.
If you notice the text, the pressure or obligation to comply rests within the Government.
We were demoted to category 2 back in January 2008 http://www.faa.gov/news/fact_sheets/news_story.cfm?newsId=10154
Too bad for PAL and the flying public because the intent to upgrade the planes was stated as early as 2006 http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2006/11/20/210646/philippine-airlines-to-order-boeing-777s-instead-of.html
PAL received it's Boeing 777 planes in 2009 http://www.philippineairlines.com/news/1stb777.jsp
PAL invested in the best planes they can get for us, but we were ultimately denied this luxury because of technicalities that no airline can address on its own.
