Jimbo Albano / BusinessMirror

THE decision of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to impose new runway rules at the Caticlan airport, effectively curbing flights to and from that gateway to the world-famous island haven of Boracay, reflects the tricky balance that policy-
makers must maintain in order to ensure uncompromisable public safety while mitigating the economic impact of decisions on business interests—in this case, the country’s top Filipino carriers.

On Wednesday, after a series of meetings with representatives of key airlines—Philippine Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific and Southeast Asian Airlines (Seair)—CAAP officials announced that effective July 9, the length of runways 06 and 24 will be shortened as part of continuing efforts to ensure aviation safety, and affirmed its “one-way” rule whereby planes taking off from Caticlan must fly toward the sea and land in the opposite direction. This rule was imposed on the recommendation of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

As a result of the new runway rules, PAL and Cebu Pacific, which use big planes for the bread-and-butter route, had to scuttle altogether all their flights to and from Caticlan, diverting these instead to Kalibo. That arrangement spells extra cost for the two airlines—which will shoulder the 90-minute land trip from Kalibo to Caticlan—and inconvenience to their passengers.

From Caap chief Ruben Ciron’s explanation, the new runway rules were necessary to guarantee aviation safety, a point that was illustrated, said officials, by the June 25 incident when a Zest Air plane overshot the Caticlan runway.

Meanwhile, tourism officials are trying to appear unfazed by the impact of the new runway restrictions and the consequent decision of the airlines, with the exception of Seair, to scuttle all flights to and from Caticlan. They said they appreciated the paramount concern of public safety but, at the same time, expressed hope this arrangement would be temporary. Western Visayas tourism director Edwi Trompeta explained that as PAL and Cebu Pacific are “now using bigger aircraft and considering the length of the runway, and it being the habagat [southwest monsoon] season— where winds from the southwest are coming in—we’re a little bit concerned with the safety of the passengers.”

Meanwhile, the Caap is mired in problems of its own, some of them apparently growing out of impatience with reforms, unforeseen complications when the old Air Transportation Office was wrapped into the Caap, and some from the usual lack of resources to carry out vital reforms.

Mr. Ciron has been fending off not a few controversies himself, and it’s a fair assumption the next few months won’t see any quick resolution of many of these issues—the need for enough trained manpower, the inability to retain such skilled personnel owing to fund constraints and politicking, and the usual plague of the bureaucracy, alleged cronyism and favoritism.

Meanwhile, the Filipino airlines are racing against time while US federal aviation authorities keep holding their decision to reverse the downgrade of Philippine aviation facilities—a downgrade that is hurting the airlines’ expansion.

One hopes these issues can be resolved as quickly as possible, considering how badly the aviation sector is among those reeling from the impact of the global economic downturn.