Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Cesar Chiong on Tuesday asked airline operators and their ground handlers to ensure they have enough personnel this holiday season.
“So we can be assured that they have the numbers, I have directed our head of operations to make the airlines submit their manpower schedules and deployment vis-a-vis their number of flights in a day, making sure that there are enough ground staff especially check-in agents, loaders, and ramp agents,” Chiong said.
The official made the appeal following reports that a number of air travelers were forced to return to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to claim their baggage that arrived late.
Chiong tapped the agency’s operations and engineering teams to ascertain the reliability of all facilities and equipment that will highly impact on flight operations. Chiong also ordered a thorough inspection of the baggage handling system in NAIA Terminal 3 following a report that it encountered some issues for about an hour on Saturday.
While contingency measures put into place follow the MIAA’s Manual for Irregular Operations (IROPS), the airport authority emphasized that the aim should always be “no system failure”.
In this light, Chiong urged airlines to also plan for contingencies to complement airport mitigating measures for irregular operations.
He said airlines must always keep passengers aware if their bags were not loaded onto the flight and give them the necessary compensation per day of delay based on the Air Passenger Bill of Rights (APBR).
Chiong stressed that the MIAA and the airlines should always work together so that the people can be provided with a pleasant airport experience.