This article is about the airline based in the Philippines. For a full list of all active Philippine-based airlines, see List of airlines of the Philippines.
Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the flag carrier of the Philippines.[11] Headquartered at the PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and is the oldest operating commercial airline in Asia.[12][13][14][note 2]
Philippine Airlines launched its first flight on March 15, 1941, using a Beechcraft Model 18 aircraft from Manila to Baguio. After a brief suspension during World War II, the airline resumed operations in 1946 and became the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific, with a flight from Manila to Oakland, California. PAL was designated as the country's flag carrier in the late 1940s and expanded rapidly in the decades that followed.[15] In 1966, PAL was privatized when then-chairman Benigno Toda Jr. acquired a majority stake. However, in 1977, the airline was re-nationalized when the Government Service Insurance System obtained the majority of its shares. The airline underwent privatization again in 1992, when it was purchased by a group led by Antonio Cojuangco. Subsequent ownership changes occurred, with businessman Lucio Tan eventually becoming the majority stockholder in the mid-1990s.[16]
Over the years, PAL has undergone periods of expansion and restructuring, responding to economic downturns, fuel price volatility, and regional competition. The airline has implemented multiple modernization programs focused on fleet renewal, route expansion, and service upgrades. In February 2018, Skytrax recognized Philippine Airlines as a four-star airline.[17]
^Abadilla, Emmie V. (January 31, 2022). "PAL appoints new president". Manila Bulletin. Archived from the original on January 31, 2022. Retrieved January 31, 2022.
^Donoso, Isaac (2013). "Sociolingüística histórica del español en Filipinas" [Historical sociolinguistics of Spanish in the Philippines]. In Donoso, Isaac (ed.). Historia cultural de la lengua española en Filipinas: ayer y hoy [Cultural history of the Spanish language in the Philippines: then and now] (in Spanish). Madrid: Editorial Verbum. p. 341. ISBN9788479628130 – via Google Books.
^"About PAL". Philippine Airlines. Archived from the original on November 26, 2020. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
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