Published by: Jahzara Jera San Miguel
Date published: January 18, 2023
Time published: 3:45pm
On January 1, 2023, hundreds of flights were canceled and thousands of passengers were affected when a ‘technical issue’ was detected, said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). Being an archipelago country makes air transportation important for us. This failure that happened revealed the negligence of the person in-charge and made the public endure.
It resulted in a fiasco that affected at least 282 flights and over 56,000 passengers, as reported by Inquirer. Net. In a Rappler interview with communications student Matt Veslino, a passenger who was stranded at the airport, Veslino said that the situation at boarding gates was stressful due to the cancellation of flights. The whole airport was jam-packed with stressed and worried passengers as their supposed flights were canceled.
Besides those passengers who were detained at the airport, there were flights that were diverted. According to the news report of Rappler, a 23-year-old college graduate Jala Toukan was flying from Hong Kong to Manila only to find out that when they were only 15 minutes away from Manila, the captain decided to fly back to Hong Kong. It was because the flight crew could not contact the control tower in Manila. The lives of the people on the whole aircraft were at risk and it could have been a massive disaster—thankfully, the pilots were trained and had a safe decision regarding the situation.
Flying in the air and having no communication with the air traffic management of an airport is dangerous. It is like having no ability to see the road. Meanwhile, CAAP Director General Capt. Manuel Tamayo said in an online press conference that “Kasi like anything, it is an electrical system, meron na nga tayong backup, dalawa na nga ‘yan, but still it failed. Now, our CNS/ATM, this was conceptualized way back in the late 90’s, naumpisahan ‘to I think 2010, and finally it was completed in 2018. So medyo — as far as the technology is concerned — it is already outdated.”
According to the CAAP press release, it was July 26, 2019, when the commencement of comprehensive operations for the country’s new Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) was held at the CAAP central office compound in Mia Road Pasay City. The said project amounted to Php10.8 Billion.
Authorities that are responsible for the incident must be held accountable. It shows their incompetence because the CAAP itself admitted that our technology is outdated—they are fully aware of it but have not taken action yet. They clearly showed the government’s negligence to ensure public transport. As stated above, billions of pesos were used for the ATMC last 2019 only and here we are welcoming the new year by facing an air traffic management crisis.
Additionally, Philippine Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said in a press conference held on the evening of January 1, "If you will compare [our airport] with Singapore's, for one, there is a big difference -- they are at least 10 years ahead of us.” In conclusion, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has settled into an inefficient and outdated technology that leaves a burden on its passengers.
Thousands of passengers suffered during the incident, many flights were affected, and people were frustrated during the airport fiasco. It was already five days after the incident happened when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. apologized to the public and inspected the airport. This national-level issue must be solved immediately with a concrete plan and people in charge should show up during those difficult times.
Facilities and technologies in public transport, mainly the airports, must be developed and make sure that every resource is efficient. Days before the power outage in the airport, Transportation Secretary Bautista announced that the government is working on the terms for the NAIA privatization—the error that happened last January 1 can be used by the government to pursue the privatization. But privatization is not the answer.
In a news report of the Manila Bulletin, Senator Nancy Binay indicated that because it raises issues of national security, the government should refrain from privatizing parts of the nation's aviation sector. NAIA Privatization also means reducing the government’s control of our airspace and can also lead to higher fees for the consumers—the burden will just come back to the passengers.
A deep investigation and a concrete plan for a solution must be done to avoid this crisis. The taxes of the public must be placed and used for proper development and not be wasted on unfortunate consequences of the authorities’ negligence.
References:
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1711403/caap-admits-phs-air-traffic-management-system-outdated
https://www.rappler.com/nation/passengers-experiences-new-year-glitch-naia-january-2023/
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/naia-philippines-airport-power-outage-flight-chaos-intl-hnk/index.html
https://caap.gov.ph/caap-new-air-traffic-facility-holds-commencement-of-comprehensive-operations/
https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/12/29/news/govt-to-pursue-naia-privatization/1872092
https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2023/01/02/238714/marcos-duterte-vlog-naia-fiasco/
https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/06/marcos-apologizes-for-naia-shutdown-orders-airport-system-upgrade/
https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/03/senators-reject-privatization-of-naia-air-system-operations/ COLUMN: “Authority’s Negligence: Passengers suffered” by Abigail Job F. Alla
On January 1, 2023, hundreds of flights were canceled and thousands of passengers were affected when a ‘technical issue’ was detected, said the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP). Being an archipelago country makes air transportation important for us. This failure that happened revealed the negligence of the person in-charge and made the public endure.
It resulted in a fiasco that affected at least 282 flights and over 56,000 passengers, as reported by Inquirer. Net. In a Rappler interview with communications student Matt Veslino, a passenger who was stranded at the airport, Veslino said that the situation at boarding gates was stressful due to the cancellation of flights. The whole airport was jam-packed with stressed and worried passengers as their supposed flights were canceled.
Besides those passengers who were detained at the airport, there were flights that were diverted. According to the news report of Rappler, a 23-year-old college graduate Jala Toukan was flying from Hong Kong to Manila only to find out that when they were only 15 minutes away from Manila, the captain decided to fly back to Hong Kong. It was because the flight crew could not contact the control tower in Manila. The lives of the people on the whole aircraft were at risk and it could have been a massive disaster—thankfully, the pilots were trained and had a safe decision regarding the situation.
Flying in the air and having no communication with the air traffic management of an airport is dangerous. It is like having no ability to see the road. Meanwhile, CAAP Director General Capt. Manuel Tamayo said in an online press conference that “Kasi like anything, it is an electrical system, meron na nga tayong backup, dalawa na nga ‘yan, but still it failed. Now, our CNS/ATM, this was conceptualized way back in the late 90’s, naumpisahan ‘to I think 2010, and finally it was completed in 2018. So medyo — as far as the technology is concerned — it is already outdated.”
According to the CAAP press release, it was July 26, 2019, when the commencement of comprehensive operations for the country’s new Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) was held at the CAAP central office compound in Mia Road Pasay City. The said project amounted to Php10.8 Billion.
Authorities that are responsible for the incident must be held accountable. It shows their incompetence because the CAAP itself admitted that our technology is outdated—they are fully aware of it but have not taken action yet. They clearly showed the government’s negligence to ensure public transport. As stated above, billions of pesos were used for the ATMC last 2019 only and here we are welcoming the new year by facing an air traffic management crisis.
Additionally, Philippine Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said in a press conference held on the evening of January 1, "If you will compare [our airport] with Singapore's, for one, there is a big difference -- they are at least 10 years ahead of us.” In conclusion, the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) has settled into an inefficient and outdated technology that leaves a burden on its passengers.
Thousands of passengers suffered during the incident, many flights were affected, and people were frustrated during the airport fiasco. It was already five days after the incident happened when President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. apologized to the public and inspected the airport. This national-level issue must be solved immediately with a concrete plan and people in charge should show up during those difficult times.
Facilities and technologies in public transport, mainly the airports, must be developed and make sure that every resource is efficient. Days before the power outage in the airport, Transportation Secretary Bautista announced that the government is working on the terms for the NAIA privatization—the error that happened last January 1 can be used by the government to pursue the privatization. But privatization is not the answer.
In a news report of the Manila Bulletin, Senator Nancy Binay indicated that because it raises issues of national security, the government should refrain from privatizing parts of the nation's aviation sector. NAIA Privatization also means reducing the government’s control of our airspace and can also lead to higher fees for the consumers—the burden will just come back to the passengers.
A deep investigation and a concrete plan for a solution must be done to avoid this crisis. The taxes of the public must be placed and used for proper development and not be wasted on unfortunate consequences of the authorities’ negligence.
References:
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1711403/caap-admits-phs-air-traffic-management-system-outdated
https://www.rappler.com/nation/passengers-experiences-new-year-glitch-naia-january-2023/
https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/naia-philippines-airport-power-outage-flight-chaos-intl-hnk/index.html
https://caap.gov.ph/caap-new-air-traffic-facility-holds-commencement-of-comprehensive-operations/
https://www.manilatimes.net/2022/12/29/news/govt-to-pursue-naia-privatization/1872092
https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2023/01/02/238714/marcos-duterte-vlog-naia-fiasco/
https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/06/marcos-apologizes-for-naia-shutdown-orders-airport-system-upgrade/
https://mb.com.ph/2023/01/03/senators-reject-privatization-of-naia-air-system-operations/
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