On Aug. 16, 2018, Thursday near-midnight, a Xiamen
Airlines plane skidded at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and
caused the runway closure for some 36 hours. The result was a nightmare for
thousands of passengers. Many arriving flights were rerouted to Clark and
Mactan-Cebu airports while passengers departing from NAIA were stranded for a
day or two or even more as it was not easy to rebook a flight.
Among the issues and questions that came out of the
incident are the following:
1. The DoTC-DTI Joint Administrative Order No. 1, s.
2012, “Providing for a Bill of Rights for Air Passengers and Carrier
Obligations” — does it apply to stranded passengers in this case?
2. If not, who should shoulder at least the meals of the
stranded passengers — the passengers themselves, Xiamen Airlines, MIAA,
TIEZA/DoT?
3. This is not the first time that NAIA was closed due to
plane accident on the runway. Were there lessons learned?
4. What are the impacts on the Philippine tourism sector?
On #1, seems that the answer is No. The cancellations and
flight delays at NAIA were not caused by the other airlines, they even suffered
huge losses because of extra hours, fuel and other costs associated with
landing in Cebu or Pampanga, and flying out with no passengers as their
passengers were trapped at NAIA.
Thus, those airlines may not be obliged to give free
meals. Passengers who opted to cancel their delayed trips should get refunds
but it takes a long time and there are standard deductions from the original
ticket prices.
On #2, still subject to investigation and legal debates
but it seems that Xiamen Airlines and/or the Manila International Airport
Authority (MIAA), as well as the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone
Authority (TIEZA), should have covered even the meals of the stranded
passengers.
MIAA collects P200 per domestic passenger as airport
terminal fee, and P550 per international passenger, meaning the agency should
provide certain services to the passengers especially for emergency cases like
this.
TIEZA, an attached agency of the Department of Tourism
(DoT), collects travel tax of P1,620 per Filipino traveling abroad on economy
or business class, and P2,700 for those on first class. TIEZA projects seem
“invisible” and non-tangible for Filipino travelers, the government simply
collects money from them and give the officials and personnel lots of perks and
good salaries.
On #3, the answer seems to be No. This is because each
administration brings its own airport officials and bureaucrats, some of whom
may have little skills in managing big and strategic agencies like MIAA and
NAIA.
On #4, the impact is obviously negative. Foreigners or
returning Filipinos (balikbayan) with only few days of stay here have already
blown off their vacation with lots of unnecessary stress and expenses.
Philippine tourism arrivals in 2016 were only one-half
(½) those in Vietnam and Indonesia and one-fourth (1/4) those in Malaysia. In
tourism receipts, the Philippines got only one-third (1/3) that of Malaysia and
Singapore and one-eighth (1/8) that of Thailand.
Too bad for the new DoT Secretary, this event is a sure
headache in terms of missed targets. This is on top of the ugly Duterte policy
of Boracay closure for six months, April 26 to October.
Some implications and policy adjustments for this event
would be the following:
One, MIAA and TIEZA which are regular collectors of taxes
and fees from passengers should learn to spend for the affected and often
hapless passengers.
Two, MIAA should be considered for privatization but the
private owners-operators still subject to various regulations by government
agencies like the DoTr, CAB, SEC. The purpose is to strengthen professionalism
and help depoliticize the management and operation of the airport, since
officers are not subject to mandatory replacement every time a new administration
comes to power.
Three, NAIA expansion to have a second or third big, wide
runway for big planes, should be expedited. Or the creation of second and third
international airports as alternative to NAIA — in Sangley Point, Cavite,
and/or Bulacan should be expedited as well.
Four, integrated PPP (construction then O&M to be
done by the same entity) and not hybrid PPP should be adopted in NAIA expansion
and/or creation of alternative airports.
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See also:
BWorld 240, IMO, coal dependence and renewables lobby, August 19, 2018
BWorld 241, Land transport modernization and the bureaucracy, August 21, 2018
BWorld 242, PH defense spending and the SCS, August 23, 2018
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