Cebu Pacific issues statement regarding infant passenger’s missed flights

Following a doctor’s viral Facebook post about a horrifying flight experience with the airline on September 26, Cebu Pacific finally broke its silence about the issue.

According to Dr. J. Dela Cerna’s post titled “Worst Experience at CDO Cebu Pacific,” her six-day-old patient suffering from a congenital heart disease missed three flights and experienced 10 hours of torment from the airline.

Dela Cerna revealed that she and her patient’s father were supposed to catch the 6:30 am flight bound for Manila for an emergency cardiac surgery. Unfortunately, they were barred from boarding the aircraft as it was against the airline’s policy to take an oxygen cylinder inside the plane. They were informed by the Cebu Pacific staff to replace the cylinder with an electric oxygen concentrator. The situation left the patient’s father with no option but to go back to the hospital, which was an hour away from the airport, to get an the electric oxygen concentrator.

Thinking that everything was set after getting hold of an electric oxygen concentrator, the group opted to board the second flight.

Once again, they were prevented from boarding the second flight since the aircraft’s outlet was 120V which didn’t match the equipment’s voltage. To quickly resolve the problem, Dela Cerna suggested that they use the emergency oxygen tank inside the plane. However, the crew refused to let them use the equipment since they only use it in emergency situations.

“I blurted, ‘Isn’t this considered an emergency?!’ The baby needs O2 during the flight. They told us that it is only used in emergency during the flight and not when the plane is still on the ground!,” Dela Cerna wrote in her post.

The patient’s father was then advised to secure a transformer. Because six hours had already passed since they arrived at the airport, the patient had already run out of portable oxygen and breastmilk supply.

Fortunately, a female Cebu Pacific crew member donated her breastmilk and they were able to use the oxygen concentrator at the airport’s breastfeeding room while waiting for the next flight.

Finally, the father was able to get a transformer and they were all prepared to board the third flight.

But to their dismay, the captain of the plane refused to let them board, pointing out that the baby was only six days old and that transformers are not allowed inside the plane.

After contacting the airline supervisor, the group was finally allowed to take the fourth flight to Manila but without the oxygen.

“We decided to just board the plane even WITHOUT oxygen since we were too desperate to give the baby a chance to have the surgery. I told the crew that we will definitely need their emergency O2 tank when we are on [sic] air,” Dela Cerna said.

Here’s Dela Cerna’s complete account of the story.

Cebu Pacific Apologizes

On September 28, Cebu Pacific issued an official statement regarding the issue.

“We apologize for the delay in accepting them on the flight, but CEB follows a safety protocol of not allowing oxygen-laden tanks on board, for the safety of the flight and all the passengers. It is for the same reason that scuba tanks are required to be fully bled before being checked in,” Cebu Pacific said in its statement.

Here’s Cebu Pacific’s full statement.

Although Cebu Pacific’s reason for refusing the patient to fly is based on their safety protocol, it is undeniable that the staff of the airline company didn’t exert enough effort in accommodating the special needs of the patient. Had they informed them about the safety protocol and all their conditions from the beginning, the patient could have arrived in Manila much earlier for the surgery.