By MYLA IGLESIAS, RAYMOND AFRICA AND WENDELL VIGILIA
Following a technical glitch that halted all air travel within Philippine airspace on New year’s Day, calls mount for the revival of a 2018 proposal to modernize the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) and for the upgrade of the country’s air traffic management system. Legislators meanwhile are clamoring for an investigation on the incident that grounded 361 flights and over 56,000 passengers in the first two days of 2023.
The shutdown of the airspace was due to power supply failure at Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) its Communications, Navigation, and Surveillance/Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) System whose technology was already behind when it was first used in 2019, according to CAAP.
While power was fully restored hours after the disruption on January 1, flight recovery was expected within 72 hours.
In a statement, CAAP said it has made recommendations to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. last year to upgrade the P10.8 billion CNS/ATM.
The incident that resulted in the loss of power in the system was due to a problem in the system’s electrical network, with its uninterruptible power supply (UPS), which is to be used as backup power supply, also failing.
The main cause of the power supply problem is still being determined and is subject for investigation, CAAP said.
The CNS/ATM system provides various computer-aided safety measures in Air Traffic Control , and enhances safety through reduction of controller/pilot workloads and human errors. The new ATM System introduced Air Traffic Flow Management and Air Space Management functions, which optimize the use of airport capacity and the efficient use of airspace, hence minimizing delays and allowing more flexible and user-preferred air-route selection.
The CAAP’s Aerodrome and Air Navigation Safety Oversight Office will be tasked to investigate the incident.
“A thorough investigation is being conducted by appropriate agencies,” Office of the Press Secretary undersecretary and officer-in-charge Cheloy Garafil said yesterday.
Other airports back to normal
All airports operated by CAAP have resumed to normal operation yesterday but NAIA continues to mount recovery flights given that over 350 flights were affected.
As of 3 p.m. yesterday, Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) said 75 more flights were cancelled due technical issues in the air traffic management center, on top of the 288 flights cancelled on January 1.
Philippine Airlines (PAL), AirAsia Philippines and Cebu Pacific (CEB) are implementing recovery flights.
PAL said a total of 244 flight were affected of which 60 percent are scheduled flights on January 1, and a total of 24,000 passengers were affected due to the outage.
“ We aim to complete the return to these fights to Manila hub within the day (January 2). This creates a domino effect in the form of flight delays for today’s flights as these planes area being assigned for flights duty today. We are focusing on recovery flight operation into the Manila hub. These are the planes/passenger stranded in various international and domestic outstations,” said Cielo Villaluna, PAL spokesperson.
For flight until 11:59 p.m of January 3, CEB said passengers may voluntarily postpone their travel and avail of their options of free rebooking or travel refund on their website.
As of 3 p.m, yesterday, a total of 75 flights were cancelled of which CEB and CEBGO had 57 cancelled flights and 20 flights from PAL.
AirAsia Philippines said it is implementing additional flight adjustments through a recovery flight on January 3.
Modernization of NAIA
Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion has recommended the revival of a 2018 proposal forming a consortium to modernize NAIA.
The rehabilitation project was to undertake various developments in three phases from 2021 to 2024 that will decongest and increase capacity of the airport.
Concepcion said NAIA is strategically located and any improvements made will redound to many benefits to the country in the same way that any inefficiencies in the airport translate to big losses in business down the line.
“I believed then, as I do now, that the private sector can contribute so much if allowed to participate,” he said.
Under the consortium’s proposal, it promised that NAIA will have a 20 percent increase in efficiency, pushing it to become a world-class gateway on a par with the world’s best airports. In addition, there were no government guarantees, and no moratorium on the construction of another major airport.
It will be recalled that in 2018, the consortium’s unsolicited proposal was recommended for approval by the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to the MIAA, the primary government agency for the project. By August that year, the consortium secured from the government an original proponent status for its plan to rehabilitate the NAIA; it was approved by the National Economic Development Authority board in November 2019.
The consortium comprised some of the country’s biggest conglomerates, namely Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc., AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp., Alliance Global Group Inc., Asia’s Emerging Dragon Corp., Filinvest Development Corp., JG Summit Holdings Inc. and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
“All of the conglomerates were interested in seeing the project push through,” said Concepcion, adding it would have been good for their respective businesses, such as in air travel, real estate or retail. “We were all in agreement that connectivity is important, and even the tycoons who were not formally part of the group pitched in to see how they can help,” he added.
Congressional probe
At least four senators want a probe be conducted on the technical glitch so they can craft measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again.
Sen. Grace Poe, committee on public services chairperson, said she will give the CAAP “time to restore normal flight operations” before the committee will schedule an inquiry.
“After which, we will conduct an inquiry and direct them to submit a full report of what caused the supposed glitch and power outage. Meralco (Manila Electric Co.) already released a statement that there was a steady supply of power from their end. The failure then points to CAAP and their navigation equipment,” Poe said in a statement.
On January 1, Meralco said upon initial analysis, there were no trouble or issues affecting its distribution facilities and no power outage or fluctuation was likewise monitored or reported as far as its power lines and facilities are concerned.
Meralco is currently onsite and ready to provide assistance if needed by airport authorities
Poe said the technical glitch which crippled the country’s premier airports is a matter of national concern.
“This is a national security concern. Thousands of lives depend on the efficiency and competence of CAAP. There needs to be transparency and accountability from CAAP,” she added.
Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito said CAAP has a lot of explaining to do.
“An investigation should be done to make sure that his unfortunate incident doesn’t happen again. It’s either sabotage of plain incompetence…What is baffling is that the Air Traffic Management System should have a backup. Having a totally non-functioning radar system is not only dangerous for air travel but is a concern of national security,” Ejercito said.
Sen. Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada said the incident was a “double black eye” to the country.
“This destroys the image of the country and will affect the tourism industry,” Estrada said.
Sen. Nancy Binay, committee on tourism chairman, said what happened on New Year’s Day was “scary and terrifying” and has left a “big setback” in the government’s effort to promote the Philippines.
“…Anyone who has plans of travelling to the Philippines this year may have second thoughts of visiting,” Binay said, as she noted that the country will be hosting a number of international events this year, including the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Binay also called on the Department of Budget and Management to help CAAP get funds to upgrade its Air Traffic Management System at the soonest possible time, adding that similar incidents have happened in 2016 and 2018.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian said concerned airport authorities should be held liable for the incident, adding that hordes of airport passengers were stranded not only at the NAIA but in various points of departure within and outside the country, as well.
He said airport authorities must also ensure the safety and convenience of the thousands of passengers affected by the technical navigation issue since the incident has cause a domino effect.
“It is unfortunate to see a crisis-like situation such as this at NAIA at a time when demand for air travel in the country has just been restored to normal levels following the lifting of travel restrictions which were imposed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Airport operations have an impact beyond managing incoming and outgoing flights,” he said.
At the House, ACT party-list Rep. France Castro warned that the so-called “technical glitch” could be a prelude to the airport’s privatization.
Castro said the timing is “quite fishy” since it happened two days after DOTe Secretary Jaime Bautista said the Marcos administration is pursuing the privatization of NAIA.
“Two days later, there was suddenly a glitch and thousands of passengers were affected,” she said.
Castro said it appears that the privatization of key government assets and services is being railroaded “without consulting the public, who will bear the brunt of additional fees and financial burdens.”
She also pointed out that the DOTR has just stopped its Libreng Sakay for the Edsa bus carousel route which it also plans to privatize.
