Confusion continues to reign at Manila airport

MANILA: Despite official assurances that operations have returned to normal, chaos and confusion continued to reign on Sunday at the Ninoy Aquino International airport( na ia) involving especially the thousands of passengers stranded when a Chinese commercial plane skidded off the runway after landing in bad weather shortly before midnight on Thursday.

The airplane has already been removed from the runway but “excessive delays” forced the cancellation on Sunday of seven international and 44 domestic flights, which increased howls of protest from the thousands of stranded passengers cramped into the NAIA waiting and departure halls.

Many of those stranded, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWS), comj plained that some airlines failed to provide them information on replacement flights or even check on their basic needs like food and water.

One of the OFWS, interviewed over DZMM radio but who refused to be idenj tified, expressed fear that he would find himself jobless because of the delay in his scheduled arrival in Saudi Arabia after spending a holiday with his family in the Philiippines.

But Labor Secretary Enrique Bello asj sured that representatives of recruitment agencies have been assigned to the NAIA to attend to the problems of OFWS.

Ed mon real, then a ia general manager, appealed to airline officials “to be bold enough” to resolve the serious concerns of their affected passengers as he disclosed that one airline, he did not identify, howj ever, asked him to face their passengers in their behalf.

“I am appealing to the airlines to be bold enough. Just be man enough. If they commited a mistake, accept it in the same way that we at the NAIA will accept it if we commit a mistake,” Monreal said in a mix of Filipino and English.

Monreal also appealed: “Let’s not do any finger-pointing so as not to worsen the problem and instead cooperate especially to alleviate the plight of the stranded passengers.”

Earlier, Monreal announced the rej sumption of normal operations following the removal at dawn on Saturday of the Xiamen Air jetliner from a grassy field next to runway 24 of the NAIA, using two powerful mobile cranes.

This developed as Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said the accident and the resulting massive disruption of airport operation should prompt officials to immediately find ways to ease congestion at the NAIA.