MIAA responds to ‘Sketches’

Dear Ms. Pamintuan,

The General Manager of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) has read your article entitled, “Rejected,” dated (Aug. 14, 2015).

General Manager Jose Angel Honrado sympathizes with the entire nation after the Philippines lost the hosting bid to the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. Infrastructure is indeed one of China’s edge compared to the Philippines.

You are correct in saying that the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) is faced with challenges, which cause certain limitations to its flight operations. As you have mentioned, the lack of night landing capability in our secondary airports forces domestic flights to crowd into peak hours of operations at the NAIA.

Installing night-landing equipment in other local airports would certainly spell more manageable air traffic conditions in Manila.

Nevertheless, the MIAA continuously seeks to keep flight operations on schedule. Management is regretful for any inconvenience you had to tolerate with during your travels at the NAIA, particularly with delayed flights.

Airlines have been reminded time and again to meet their schedules — especially during the first wave early in the morning — to avoid the cascading effect of delays on flights throughout the day. Records show that roughly 10 to 15 flights from 12 mn to 6 am get delayed which balloon tenfold later in the evening.

The first wave period covers non-peak hours of flights. This begs the question as to why airlines still fall short in meeting their schedules when there is almost no traffic during these hours.

It is in this line, moreover, that management does not seek to deprive passengers of the truth when it comes to delayed flights, contrary to your opinion. In fact, we want airlines to tell the truth: late arrival of turnaround aircraft rather than the claim of air traffic congestion causes delayed and canceled flights.

The airlines know this as management has given them hard figures. The justification of ”air traffic congestion in NAIA” has long been misused considering that airlines are also responsible for their own delays.

On a final note, the General Manager expresses his gratitude for the approval you gave of the newly rehabilitated Terminal 1.  —David Faustino de Castro, Public Relations Officer, Manila International Airport Authority