Insider Spotlight
After entering Chapter 11 restructuring in 2021 and emerging later that year with a stronger balance sheet, PAL has focused on fleet modernization, selective route expansion, and customer experience upgrades. Central to that push is the overhaul of its legacy contact center systems using Twilio Flex.
“It’s been a story of transformation,” Mark Anthony Munsayac, vice president for customer experience, said in a press statement. “We refocused our strategies around digital transformation and reshaping our culture.”
That reset reflects a broader ambition to win repeat business beyond price and convenience.
“For us, loyalty is about earning passenger trust,” Munsayac added. “Passengers may still fly for convenience or price even after a poor experience, but our goal is for them to choose Philippine Airlines because we’ve earned their trust.”
Driving operational gains
In 2025, PAL carried over 16 million passengers, each interacting across multiple touchpoints.
By integrating Twilio Flex with its core systems, the airline unified communications across channels and gave agents real-time visibility into passenger journeys.
“Since implementing the platform, our average contact center wait time has dropped to under one minute,” said Munsayac, based on internal performance tracking.
“Shorter handle times and expanded self-service options have helped drive operational efficiency and cost savings.”
Customer satisfaction has climbed to around 95 percent in recent measurements, while monthly customer service costs have fallen by about 30 percent.
PAL’s deflection rate is about 45 percent, meaning nearly half of concerns are resolved without escalation to live agents. AI currently supports 10 percent of service tasks, including flight status checks and basic requests.
“We’re aiming to reach what we call a ‘super AI agent’ state by April 2026, where around 80 percent of the tasks a live agent can perform can be handled by AI,” Munsayac shared.
Balancing tech and touch
Despite automation gains, PAL emphasizes customer choice.
“We’re not hiding our live agents—passengers can always choose to connect with one. Our goal is for customers to use digital and automated options because they deliver a better experience, not because they’re forced to.”
Beyond customer service, PAL is deploying predictive AI in aircraft maintenance, analyzing sensor and maintenance data to anticipate issues before failures occur.
“With the terabytes of data generated by aircraft sensors and maintenance reports, we can anticipate which components may require attention before a failure happens,” Munsayac said.
Looking ahead, PAL plans to roll out a customer data platform to unify loyalty, communications, and service systems—positioning technology not as a standalone project, but as a core organizational capability. —Vanessa Hidalgo | Ed: Corrie S. Narisma
