Airlines call for revamp of Customs personnel at airports

MANILA, Philippines - Airline companies want misplaced Customs personnel at airports re-assigned to revenue-related positions for efficiency, including the Customs officer who has to give his thumbs-up outside the aircraft door before the flight crew can open it for passengers to deplane.

“This thumbs-up personnel personifies the need for the Bureau of Customs to review its staffing pattern to improve airport efficiency and put people where they are needed to meet revenue targets,” said Bayani Agabin, spokesman for the Board of Airline Representatives (BAR).

He also said there are customs people at the tarmac who have to give their approval first before the belly can be opened for the unloading of bags.

There were some instances, he added, when customs personnel would hold off an engineer from boarding a parked aircraft for maintenance work or the cleaning crew for no valid reason, delaying the turnaround of the flight as a result.

He added that Customs people should also be barred from helping themselves to the goodies inside the aircraft when they board it purportedly for some kind of inspection. 

It is imperative, he pointed out, to review the procedures and responsibilities of airport personnel in light of the Department of Finance (DOF) order directing airports to implement a 24/7, three-shift operation, dropping the current practice where outside the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. single shift, airport customs charges airlines for overtime, meals and transportation allowance.

“And when four aircraft arrive, they charge four times for the same hour that they were there,” Agabin said.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, as head of the economic cluster, recently ordered CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) officials to discontinue the outdated one-shift practice and go on three shifts 24/7.

The order, Agabin said, should apply to all CIQ personnel and divisions, not just in Manila but in other international gateways including the airports in Clark, Puerto Princesa, Cebu and Kalibo.

The switch to a 24/7 operation by airports outside the capital will help decongest the Manila airports, which have lately been unable to meet the sharp rise in air traffic by allowing night flights to and from airports outside NAIA.

The move will boost the country’s campaign to project itself as a major tourist destination and a significant regional player, he said.