AT least, they are not trying to hide it. On the contrary, they are letting it all hang out for the whole world to see, their total ignorance and incompetence. We are referring to aviation and airport officials—members of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (Caap)—who, instead of proposing or implementing remedial measures for the air and ground congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), are blaming the domestic and foreign airlines for the mess.
To the House Transportation Committee looking into snafus at the Naia, the Caap representatives said they had told airline companies that Naia could only handle a maximum of 40 arriving and departing flights per hour.
“I don’t know why airlines insist on arriving or departing at the same time,” Marlene Singson, supervising air-traffic controller of Caap, is quoted as saying.
Something everybody, except Caap officials, knows: The airlines are, in fact, acting in our best interest, trying to bring in more foreigners to our country, more tourists to contribute to the growth of our economy. Just ask the Department of Tourism, whose goal is to increase tourist arrivals this year to something like 4 million.
The problem of congestion at Naia is not new. In fact, House Committee members said that they had been hearing of flight-scheduling problems at Naia since three years ago. The trouble is that, beyond words, nothing has been done to deal with it.
The proper solution to the air and ground congestion at Naia is to build new, larger and more modern airports in appropriate places in the country, but this will take time. Meanwhile, it makes sense to enlarge and modernize Naia or open other existing Philippine airports, like, say Clark International Airport in Pampanga or Mactan International Airport in Cebu, to international travel.
Neither Clark nor Mactan may be in perfect operating condition for accommodating international travel at this time, but work must now start to bring them up to international standards. With respect to Clark, it is reassuring that lawmakers have given transport and airport authorities a January deadline for the submission of a master plan for the conversion of the airport into a substitute main gateway for the country. Along this line, the recent P94-billion loan extended by Japan to the Philippines to finance a Malolos, Bulacan-Tutuban, Metro Manila, rail line (the same rail line that an aborted China loan was to finance some 10 years ago, remember?) should help solve the transport problem affecting the Clark-Manila link. As to the Mactan airport, whose current modernization and expansion was held up for a long time by bidding issues, without compromising any engineering and aesthetic consideration, let’s finish work on this airport as soon as possible.
In the meanwhile, what does all this tell us about the present officials of Caap? The present officials of Caap are square pegs in round holes. They should be taken out of there as soon as possible.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano
1 comment
“I don’t know why airlines insist on arriving or
departing at the same time,” Marlene Singson, supervising air-traffic
controller of Caap, is quoted as saying.
WOW…WOW…Ma’am I should be proud of those people who promoted you to Supervisor.
So….according to you… CAAP should ban time-tables of all airlines using NAIA.
They can land and take-off whenever they or the CAAP officials think it is the right time.