MIAA, CAAP need more efficient managers

NONE of the passengers and crew aboard the Boeing 737 passenger jet of China’s Xiamen Airlines that skidded off the runway at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Thursday was injured, but the chaos resulting from the accident lasted well into Monday. thousands of passengers have been stranded, including Filipino workers bound for jobs overseas.

There have been, predictably, calls from some lawmakers for legislative hearings on the incident, and at least one congressman has suggested that Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Ed Monreal and Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) director general Jim C. Sydiongco resign as a matter of that nebulous Filipino concept of “delicadeza.”

Until now, we have been inclined to give the manage look to the larger issue the accident highlighted, that the country’s main international gateway is outdated and inadequate, and must be replaced with a more capable airport as soon as possible. That was the view expressed in our editorial commentary on Sunday, and remains our view now. A Senate hearing, such as the one called for by Senator Grace Poe, would achieve little more than to simply reiterate the same obvious solution to the bigger problem, at the expense of time that could be spent on more pressing legislative concerns.

Likewise, calling for the head of a concerned agency to resign simply because “something happened” is ordinarily unwarranted, and often skirts the real issue. In the case of the Xiamen Airlines accident, however, certain facts have subsequently come to light that show much of the confusion that paralyzed the airport for three days could have been avoided had the MIAA and CAAP managed the incident properly.

disabled aircraft, which crashed shortly before midnight Thursday but was not moved away from the runway until midday on Saturday. Moving a damaged 60-ton aircraft is, of course, no easy task, but the reality is that it is a task the airport should be prepared for; the MIAA was not. Not only does the airport not have the necessary equipment, MIAA equipment from an outside source. Not being prepared with a plan in place for the quick recovery of a downed aircraft aggravated an already bad situation.

The second management failure occurred after the plane congestion actually got worse, not better, a situation for which MIAA’s Monreal essentially pleaded helplessness.

As reported by various news outlets, Monreal blamed the mounted by various airlines to clear out the backlog of their made without the MIAA’s knowledge, Monreal said, and resulted in added congestion of passengers and aircraft at NAIA.

Monreal’s explanation was completely specious. By law and common practice, the MIAA, as authorized by the at NAIA, it is because the MIAA allowed that to happen.

NAIA, indeed, needs to be replaced by a more manageable airport, but that does not excuse its current management or the management of the country’s aviation oversight agency from exercising basic competence. In this case, they failed to do their jobs.