It's no wonder that its pilots are deserting PAL and that it continues to lose money. It's also a shame that PAL, owned by multi-billionaire Lucio Tan, is paying its flight attendants with a salary that is barely above the minimum wage. PAL, Asia's first airline, has slid to mediocrity over the years, with upstart local competitor Cebu Pacific Air even overtaking it recently in terms of passenger volume. Cebu Pacific, a low-cost airline, didn't do much to accomplish this: it just offered much cheaper tickets with full use of its online booking system. In this age of cheap air travel in which customers prefer to plan and book their itinerary online, PAL has not responded to the call of the times. Sadly, our beloved flag carrier is in danger of missing this flight.