AN airport official admitted Sunday that heavy air traffic congestion developed at the height of Typhoon “Lando” on Monday because the Ninoy Aquino International Airport could only accommodate 40 flights per hour—20 takeoffs and 20 touchdowns.
Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines spokesman Eric Apolonio said over radio dzRH that the limited capacity of NAIA forced the authorities to give priority to bigger aircraft.
He added that unscheduled flights that day had to return and seek an emergency landing because they failed to land at their destination because of bad weather.
Apolonio also admitted they were losing their more experienced air traffic controllers to countries like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Hong Kong that offer more pay—$10,000 as against the Philippines’ $1,000 a month.
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who had to circle over the Sierra Madre mountains for an hour Monday, demanded a probe of the chronic air congestion.
Belna Cabasan, a regular traveller, said she had experienced the same predicament faced by Romualdez in her recent trips to Roxas and Davao on Aug. 25 and Sept. 2, respectively.
Cabasan said she and her co-passengers had to contend with air turbulence for an hour when her Cebu Pacific flight was ordered to hover due to heavy traffic at the runway.
“I pitied the kids because they were already throwing up because of air turbulence and the mothers had nothing to offer but comforting words that everything will be fine even as all of us feared we might run out of aviation fuel,” Cabasan told The Standard.
“Last Monday, Typhoon ‘‘Lando’’ affected Metro Manila. You have to understand NAIA can only handle 40 flights per hour, 20 takeoff, 20 touchdown. The problem at the time was that there were many flights bound for the North that were ordered to return to Manila because they could not land. So there was really congestion in NAIA,” Apolonio told dzRH.
The North-bound planes had to return and make unscheduled and emergency landings at NAIA, he said.
Apolonio added that the flight controllers gave priority to larger plains and that small aircraft had to wait their turn.
He added that Romualdez’s flight was allowed to take off from Bacolod because the weather was still clear at the time. But on their final approach to Manila, because of the bad weather, more returning planes from the north arrived ahead of the lawmaker’s aircraft.
“We cannot control the weather. We gave them clearance, but the situation changed during the travel time of one to one-and-a-half hours,” he said.
Romualdez on Sunday proposed a review of salary structure of the country’s air traffic controllers, saying this would effectively prevent their continued departure for greener pastures abroad.
Romualdez, a senatorial candidate, underscored the need to increase the salaries and benefits of air traffic controllers.
“Now is the time to review their [air traffic controllers] salary structure and package of benefits to prevent them from leaving their work for greener pastures abroad. We have to do something to retain the most skilled personnel by giving them the best compensation at par with their competence,” Romualdez said.
“Their excellent talent would help us prevent an air tragedy waiting to happen because of horrible traffic congestion in Manila airport,” he added.
Romualdez said his latest air experience was a common ordeal of all air passengers at NAIA, where aircraft are asked to fly “overtime” or beyond flight schedules because of congestion.
Romualdez described his experience Monday as the “scariest flight” of his life, after the pilots rejected the instructions of the air traffic controller to take a low altitude while circling the Sierra Madre Mountains.
While denying that inexperienced air traffic controllers are now manning the NAIA, Apolonio admitted over dzRH interview that the country is losing 3 percent annually out of the 450 regular air traffic controllers because of better compensation abroad.
Apolonio also lamented that the country’s air traffic controllers are among the lowest-paid in the world.