Policy on Face Masks

Policy on Face Masks

In compliance with IATF’s Guidelines for Nationwide Alert Level System and the Department of Health (DOH), all persons shall wear well-fitted face masks, if necessary, especially in public areas and enclosed spaces.

To ensure a healthy, safe, and clean environment for all our travelers, all passengers must bring their own face masks to use at the airport and throughout the flight. We allow surgical masks, ear loop masks, and cloth masks. Only Alert Levels 4 and 5 require the use of a face shield.

We highly recommend continuing to bring a mask with you throughout your travel as it may be required for some destinations based on their laws and requirements. For Philippine Airlines codeshare flights, please check with our partner carriers about their respective mask policies.

A check-in and/or boarding gate agent, a member of the airport security personnel or a crew member may authorize the removal of the face mask to verify the person’s / passenger’s identity. Face masks may also be loosened or removed for eating, drinking, or when medications are scheduled to be taken, and in times when donning of oxygen masks are required in certain situations during a flight.

 

Allowed Persons for Mask Exemption

The following list of passengers may be exempted from wearing a face mask:

· Children under 2 years old.

· Persons with breathing problems or those individuals who are at risk of suffocation (children under the age of two, persons with breathing problems).

· PWDs (Persons with a disability) who have respiratory disabilities/conditions, who are unable to put on or remove their mask on their own, who cannot wear a mask, or who cannot safely wear a mask because of the disability.

· Persons with an intellectual, developmental, cognitive, or psychiatric disability that affects the person’s ability to determine when to remove a mask if breathing becomes obstructed.

NOTE: Persons who experience discomfort or uneasiness while wearing a mask without imminent threat of harm would not qualify for this exemption.

· A person who requires wearing an assistive device and is prevented from wearing a mask at the same time.

NOTE: If use of the device is intermittent and the person can remove the mask independently to use the device, then a mask must be worn during periods when the person is not using the device. As an alternative, PWDs may, if possible, wear well-fitted face shields instead. Per US CDC recommendation, well-fitted face shields should wrap around the sides of the face and extend below the chin.

 

Mask Exemption Requirements

Eligible passengers must provide advance notice to PAL at least 48 hours prior to flight departure about requesting a face mask exemption or check-in one hour before the check-in time (5 hours for International, and 4 hours for Domestic flights) to provide PAL’s ground staff and medical team time to assess the request. Passengers with medical conditions that exempt them from wearing a mask must present a doctor’s certificate upon check-in to PAL in order to satisfy PAL that the passenger has a recognized medical condition that precludes the safe wearing of a mask.

NOTE: PAL reserves the right to deny exemptions from mask-wearing upon an individualized assessment and determination that a passenger’s refusal or inability to wear a mask will pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others onboard the aircraft and that a less restrictive option is not feasible. Falsification of medical documents, willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or concealing information shall be subject to applicable criminal penalties and/or imprisonment.