Bong Go to help improve air traffic control
After getting stranded, OFWs are facing costlier flight rebooking
Senator Christopher “Bong” Go is looking to help improve the country’s air traffic control system following the disruption of nearly 300 flights and stranding of tens of thousands of travelers on 1 January in major local airports.
“It’s unacceptable to me to see my countrymen lying down in the airport, forced to spend for another flight ticket and worrying of losing their jobs because they can’t quickly return to work abroad,” Go said in a statement issued on Tuesday.
Some 3,000 stranded OFWs have been given food, transport, hotel accommodation and rebooking assistance.
The vice chair of the Senate Committee on National Defense believes the incident has huge national security implications.
“It appears that all it takes to paralyze the entire Philippine airspace is just one technical glitch,” Go said.
“As a senator, I am ready to help find solution to the problem to protect national interest and lives of Filipinos,” he said.
Special airfare
Meanwhile, Senator Raffy Tulfo on Wednesday called on airlines to provide returning overseas Filipino workers lower airfares as the flight cancellations in major airports on Sunday reportedly drove flight ticket prices up.
One airline said airfare doubled due to the “demand-based algorithm” the company uses in adjusting ticket price, according to the senator.
He urged the Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific to consider the “preferential pricing system” for OFWs since they only often go home to the country every year.
“It would be unfair for our OFWs to absorb the fault or negligence of CAAP (Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines) for the maintenance of their CNS/ATM (Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance System for Air Traffic Management System),” he added.
The airports breakdown was apparently caused by a loss of power when the system’s electrical network and backup power supply failed, stranding hundreds of flights and thousands of passengers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Clark, Mactan, Davao, and other CAAP-operated airports.
DMW helps
DMW Undersecretary Hans Leo Cacdac said in a television interview Wednesday that the agency is monitoring and assisting OFWs waiting for their flight rebooking and departure.
“If they are worried about employers asking about their delay in arriving in their host countries, DMW Secretary Susan Ople has issued a directive to labor attaches to talk to employers who need clarifications on these cancelled flights,” Cacdac said.
Some 3,000 stranded OFWs have been given food, transport, hotel accommodation and rebooking assistance during DMW’s response on Sunday evening, Cacdac said.