Flag-carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), further reeling from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, is seeking a restructuring of its huge debts amid the massive financial losses it has incurred this year.

Data from wsj.com showed PAL’s operator, PAL Holdings, had short-term debts amounting to P18.53 billion while the current portion of its long-term debt stood at P29.71 billion, both at the end of 2019.

PAL Holdings earlier said it recorded losses reaching P29.03 billion in the first nine months of 2020, or nearly four times the P7.86 billion losses recorded a year earlier.
In a statement on Wednesday, PAL said it was working on “a comprehensive recovery and restructuring plan” to continue surviving amid the pandemic.

“In the meantime, we continue to gradually increase our flights operated on most of our international and domestic routes in line with market recovery,” it added.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3^rd said PAL approached them seeking assistance. “PAL informed the DoF (Department of Finance) team of their plans last week but gave no details on any assistance they may need from us,” he said in a Viber message on Wednesday.

Dominguez said earlier the government is ready to support the airline industry.

PAL could solve its financial problems by seeking court protection from its creditors, and seek assistance from government banks to restructure it debts. This arrangement could result in PAL placed under receivership until it attains financial stability. CURRENTPH