PAL seeks debt suspension

PAL seeks debt suspension

MANILA (Dow Jones): Cash-strapped Philippine Airlines is seeking a five-year suspension of payment on its 85 billion pesos (PHP) worth of debt under a rehabilitation plan it submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Commission Chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr. told reporters yesterday that the airline's management wanted the five-year breathing period to nurse the airline back to health.

The airline has been in the red for some time. But the Asian financial crisis and a recent pilots' strike further affected its operation, hurting its ability to pay maturing obligations. Last month, it sought the commission's intercession for a plan that would get it back to financial viability.