Cebu Pacific bets on fuel-efficient fleet to navigate crisis

It was good catching up with Cebu Pacific’s executives, led by its CEO Michael Szucs, during a recent roundtable discussion with editors and reporters.

- By IRIS GONZALES

The hot topic was, of course, the current global oil crisis and how the budget carrier is navigating this present-day challenge.

Szucs said that overall, the COVID-19 pandemic was much worse. Cebu Pacific or CEB, he said, remains positive but noted that the current crisis is still quite difficult.

“We're positive and upbeat for the long term, but boy, this is so annoying,” he said, recalling that back in February they were seeing growth coming into the second quarter, and the booking curves were looking great until the war erupted.

The war Szucs was referring to, of course, is the US and Israel’s conflict with Iran, which erupted on Feb. 28.

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Fortunately for CEB, the airline has a current fleet that includes fuel-efficient aircraft.

As such, its biggest defenses lies not in cutting flights but in the aircraft it chose to invest in years ago, said its president and chief commercial officer, Xander Lao.