This question has long been answered by Filipino travelers but it took complaining foreigners to get the ear of airport authorities, according to officers of the Airline Operators Council (AOC).
And the good news is that improvements to the physical structure of the 30-year-old Naia 1 are under way.
But the AOC said it may take some time before other changes take place—like the work attitude of airport officials and employees.
The most difficult to educate on proper behavior seems to be the employees assigned to see to it that the toilets remain clean. “We see some of them every day handling out pieces of tissue paper to toilet users and expecting a tip in return. This mendicant attitude must be stopped,” the complainants said.
Apart from the smelly toilets, inadequate amenities and dilapidated facilities, there are also the ill-mannered and corrupt employees and policemen, the group said.
How about the complaints against the multiple body checks and pat downs that the passenger has to endure before reaching the pre- departure area? Airport personnel in Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, other Asian countries, and yes, the United States do it only once to all departing passengers.
At Naia 1 and Naia 2 terminals, there are three body checks regularly conducted on passengers which, in turn, generate long queues. The first body check is upon entering the arrival area, the second after leaving the immigration zone, where every passenger is required to take off his/her shoes, and the third is on pre-departure.
The pre-departure and third body check is conducted by airline personnel themselves and not the Aviation Security Group because of the airlines’ alleged lack of confidence in aviation security procedures, according to Onnie Nakpil, chairman of the AOC for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
Nakpil said the Transportation Security Administration, which oversees the security measures of airport allies around the world, requires only passengers of US-bound aircraft to remove their shoes prior to boarding their planes.
But the Office of Transportation Security, its local counterpart, obliges all departing passengers to remove their footwear, thus contributing greatly to the slow flow of passengers going through the premier airport.
Manuel Pintado, the deputy chief of the First Police Center for Aviation Security, explains that the Naia terminals are so porous they allow many unauthorized people to get in, virtually justifying the redundant body checks.
However, he agrees to a reduction of body pat downs to only one, provided airport authorities employ security cameras and clearly delineate areas where passengers who had undergone the required security procedures, could no longer blend with non-passengers. Improvement thus boils down to better management, he said.
Bone-weary passengers should be provided with lounge chairs to make them more comfortable. As it is, the premier airport only has stainless steel or plastic chairs and benches—rigid, half-back contraptions that seldom offer comfort to anyone, much less provide that much-needed 40 winks while waiting for their planes to depart.
Many airports around the world like the Frankfurt Airport are passenger-friendly. There are lounge chairs where one could sleep without being bothered, and without any need for sleeping rooms as the “Guide to Sleeping in Airports” blog had complained about the Naia 1, which it named the worst airport in the world.
