THE PAST Christmas season was quite chaotic for the Philippine airline industry as several enraged Cebu Air Inc (Cebu Pacific) passengers hounded the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 3 with dissatisfaction.

The delay of over 280 and cancellation of 20 flights from December 24 to 26 last year affected some 10,400 passengers, resulting in 14 complaints filed with the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) against Cebu Pacific.

The airline company paid fines amounting to P52.11 million last January 29 due to trouble it had caused, proceeds of which went to the national treasury.

Working around limits

While Cebu Pacific had initially attributed the problematic circumstances to bad weather and air traffic congestion, further investigation by a panel composed of the CAB, the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) confirmed that long lines came as a result of the check-in counters being undermanned.

Lance Gokongwei, president and chief executive officer of Cebu Pacific, then admittedly pointed to absenteeism as the root of the problems in a statement he released during a House committee hearing. The carrier reportedly only had two counters open on the morning of December 26 to accommodate passengers for domestic flights, with the rest opening 11:00 AM onwards.

The panel has also emphasized on concerns which were raised regarding overbooking as a primary source of the inconvenience which the passengers experienced.  The CAB is considering its forbiddance during peak seasons.

Wilfred Manuela Jr., PhD, associate professor at the Department of Leadership and Strategy of the John Gokongwei School of Management, sees fault in airline companies who fail to limit their number of flights given the restraints brought about by possible congestion.

In addition, Manuela also said that NAIA is also responsible for the commotion, saying that it is the duty of the airport to check the number of flights and to accommodate the traffic. He explains that the main problem of the airport “stems from the lack of long range planning of the government.”

“They (the government) should know that as time goes on, demand for airline would increase… They should invest in bigger facilities or at least facilities that could be expand,” he said.

World’s worst airport

On the other hand, University of the Philippines Asian Institute of Tourism Professional lecturer Avelino Zapanta, PhD strongly disagrees with the concept of reducing flights and aircrafts in conformance to NAIA’s present capacity. He goes so far as calling this foolishness.

“It’s [the job of the airlines] to create demand. That’s what the country needs. A big demand for travel in the Philippines is for the benefit of the Philippines. Our job is to respond with sufficient infrastructure,” Zapanta explains.

Cebu Pacific also seemed to hint on the Philippine airport’s lack of infrastructure when the company gave “space constraints” as one of the reasons behind the inconveniently long lines at the check-in counters.

This infrastructure problem has plagued the airport for many years. From 2011 to 2013, NAIA, particularly its Terminal 1, had been dubbed as the world’s worst airport, mostly because of infrastructure problem. According to the website “The Guide to Sleeping in Airports”, the ranking was based on reviews of travelers who managed to survive the hazards and poor quality of the airport. Among the problems cited by the reviewers were poor facilities, theft and bribery, lack of comfortable seating, long queues and rude staff personnel. The website even went as far as calling NAIA as “Asia’s largest public sauna” after air conditioning units bogged down last April 2014.

Improvements

To avoid another mishap, Zapanta recommended the expansion of the country’s main airport as well as the improvement of its facilities. He also said that there is a need to improve the provincial airports and open it unrestrictedly to foreign airlines operations.

To decongest NAIA, Zapanta said that the government should invest more in improving the facilities of provincial airports. Currently, NAIA can accommodate 40 aircraft movements per hour, but this number has already been exceeded. In addition, this movement is only possible during the 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM time period because most provincial airports do not have night-landing facilities and navigational aid that would enable NAIA to have 24 hours operations for its domestic flights. If provincial airports would have the necessary equipment to operate at night, Zapanta said that this would enable NAIA to distribute its flights throughout a 24-hour time period and prevent the congestion of aircrafts during the day.

Aside from investing in provincial airports, Zapanta also said that the government should look at the possibility of transferring all international flights to Clark International Airport in Angeles City, Pampanga. He said that this would reduce the passengers in Manila by as much as 10 M. Zapanta said that this would also be an ideal and efficient plan because of the space availability in Clark and the great demand for aircrafts there.

However, critics said that this would require the government to provide a way to connect the Clark Airport to the country’s capital. But Zapanta argued that this connection would already be irrelevant given the “pocket open-skies” policy entered by the government for the provincial airports. According to this policy, some provincial international airports would be open up to unlimited and unrestricted foreign airline operations.

“In this way, a tourist can fly directly, say from Seoul, Korea to Boracay or to Iloilo without passing to Manila,” Zapanta said. “[The tourists] want to fly from their true origin to their true destination without the hassle of having to connect [to another airport].”

What has been done?

Despite the numerous adversities that plagued the country’s aviation industry, there have been several developments to it recently. Last March, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) initiated the rehabilitation of NAIA Terminal 1. The P1.3 billion project began last January and is expected to be completed by May 2015.

In an interview by the Philippine Daily Inquirer, NAIA manager Dante Basanta said that the rehabilitation involved “structural retrofitting, aesthetic improvements, upgrades in electrical, plumbing mechanical and fire protection systems, and the construction of lounges for hotel bookings and travel services.” It also included upgrades on the lighting and air-conditioning system.

Other projects involving NAIA and other regional airports are also underway. Most of these are under the government’s public private partnership (PPP) program. The PPP is a partnership program involving the government and the private sector. The government provides incentives to private companies in exchange for the latter financing, operating and maintaining development and infrastructure projects normally undertaken by the government.

According to Manuela, the PPP has a lot of promise not only because it taps money for the development of the aviation industry, but also because it provides greater transparency in project implementation. He explained that this is because there is a great demand from the private industry to protect its own interest. Some of the projects that have been launched so far included the construction of the NAIA Expressway and the expansion of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport. These are all expected to help develop the country’s aviation industry.

By Kyle N. Mitscheiner

Air travel is a lot more convenient, cheaper and easier these days. Travelers now have a variety of airlines—each with their own perks and benefits—to choose from. Listed below are just some of the local airlines that Filipinos can take to travel in, out and within the country.

Philippine Airlines (PAL) was founded in 1941 and is Asia’s oldest commercial airline. It is also the flag carrier of the Philippines, making it the premier airline of the nation. It was initially founded as an airmail service in 1935 until it was purchased six years later and converted to a dedicated commercial airline.

The company has enjoyed steady success since its foundation, but had two distinct periods of massive expansion. The first was in the early 1960s when jet planes gained popularity and resulted in a boom in the airline industry.

The Martial Law period followed this phase of expansion and one of the decrees was a one-airline policy. PAL was the chosen airline, but it was nationalized. This period was marked by steady development, benefiting from the lack of competition. The airline, however, did not see its largest phase of expansion until the end of Martial Law. This era saw the reprivatization of the airline and under the guidance of businessman Lucio Tan, it modernized its fleet of airplanes. Since then, the company has undergone a period of growth and continues to do so.

The company saw controversy on July 2010, when it encountered labor disputes with its employees. Later in November 2010, PAL had decided to outsource most of its catering services, resulting in the loss of some 2,600 jobs. The issue was settled in 2013, when PAL agreed to rehire all of those who were laid off in 2010. [/two-columns] [two-columns]Cebu Pacific

Cebu Pacific was established in 1988, following the end of the one-airline policy introduced during Martial Law. It began to service its customers in 1996 under the leadership of John Gokongwei, and according to the company website, they were the original pioneers of the budget airline strategy. This strategy has reflected positively on its performance as a company; it is one of the most popular airlines for both domestic and international flights, recently having flown their 100-millionth passenger.

The company was granted rights to fly internationally in 2000 and has since continued to grow. In 2008, it was named the fourth fastest growing airline in the world and continues to expand due to its numerous marketing strategies, most notably its social media campaigning.

This growth, however, is not without a cost. Cebu Pacific is often cited as having the most delayed flights and was fined P52 M for delayed and cancelled flights during the holidays last December.

AirAsia Philippines was a branch of the Malaysian budget airline AirAsia. It was granted permission to operate as a commercial line on February 7, 2012 and operated in the domestic market. A little over a year later, AirAsia Zest (formerly Spirit) and AirAsia Philippines merged, retaining the name of the former. Post merger, the airline has operated and served both domestic and international flights.

AirAsia Zest has seen numerous controversies and problems, and had its Air Operator Certificate suspended by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines in 2013 due to negligence and safety breaches. These include the lack of an Accountable Manager and failure to check aircraft log. Zest was again allowed to operate in August of that year, after addressing said issues. In addition to this, AirAsia had seen three distinct accidents during the holiday season, which brought attention to the safety of budget airlines.