PAL's passengers irked on excess baggage limit


Philippine Airlines employees manning the counter at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) made surprise declarations Tuesday (8/11/09) to departing passengers, mostly Filipinos on their way back home, prior to final boarding Flight No. PR 103.

It didn't only shock many passengers who were caught unaware of PAL's sudden implementation of a strict baggage weight limit to the frustration of each passenger destined for the Philippines. A friend who sent off a housemate that day told me he saw a lot of passengers re-opened their boxes which exceeded the baggage limit allowed for each passenger at the airport lobby. They didn't have any choice but to set aside the excess items until each box had conformed to the right baggage weight limit allowed by PAL. Then, they again repacked and resealed their boxes. Isn't it annoying that way? What's wrong with the system at PAL's ticketing outlets in Southern California?

What if those elderly Filipino passengers didn't have somebody with them to take care of the excess baggage? According to my friend, some of the passengers had to be pushed on the wheelchairs on their way to the departure area.

Sad thing is it seems that PAL is getting out of touch with the reality of life. Of course, these things could be avoided had the ticketing outlets that sold these PAL tickets informed the passengers beforehand that the baggage weight limit is so and so. In this way, the poor passengers wouldn't bother stocking their boxes with unwanted stuffs, which was the reason why they had to suffer the inconveniences at the premier airport in California.

If this happens in California, I'm sure this also happens across the other airports in America where PAL failed to give proper announcements on its new strict system on baggage weight limit. Perhaps, the PAL management has to explain something in order to iron out this mess, if only to attract more passengers to board its flights back home. It is not always money that counts, but the passengers' convenience and quality service, too.

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