Filipino-Americans in Los Angeles, California may soon experience an inconvenient trip right from the start when they begin their journey to the Philippines.
The City of Los Angeles, and its sub-entity the Los Angeles World Airports or LAWA (the authority that runs Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), will require Philippine Airlines starting June 15 to move its planes to a distant boarding gate area known as the Midfield Satellite Concourse (MSC), a newly-built boondoggle that cost the Los Angeles over $1.7 billion to develop.
The city’s largest Asian-American community—the Filipino-Americans—and their older and frailer members will be the most effected by the gate change. PAL, the only airline offering the direct flight (five times a week during this pandemic, but up to 18 or 20 times a week during normal times), will also suffer from the incomprehensible decision. PAL is favored by Fil-Ams in southern California, who want to fly non-stop to Manila to visit their families in the ancestral homeland.
The move, scheduled on June 15, will require PAL flyers to walk an additional 20 minutes through a tunnel burrowed under the tarmac and aircraft taxiway, using a series of escalators/mobile walkways and long walking stretches to get to the remote gate area. The tunnel is the only connection between the main Tom Bradley terminal area, where PAL’s passengers check in for their flights, and the MSC, which is only a boarding area.
PAL naturally protested the move, calling it “forced,” citing the impact on its largely Filipino or Filipino-American customers.
Most affected, of course, are the elderly and less physically-abled Filipino-Americans who specifically choose to fly on PAL because of the convenience of nonstop flights, convenience being one of the things they prize. Try flying on a transpacific flight to the Philippines, and count the wheelchairs lined up at the gate for elderly Filipinos—10, 20, 30 or more on some flights.
The relegation has Fil-Ams up in arms. Local Filipino leaders in the LA area have written in protest to the city and to LAWA. Communities are decrying the move, which was announced during Asian American Heritage month in May. Adult children of older Fil-Ams make it a point to ensure that their parents travel comfortably—they are up in arms over the situation.
Discrimination?
Social media is abuzz with comments. Bella Cristobal wrote, “We are in our 70s [and] we may have to reconsider our flying preferences. We don’t want to be stressed out before we even leave.” Joel Ellen Angeles also wrote: “That’s very bad news for senior citizens like us, short of saying we’re not welcome.” Chris Asuncion asked: “Is it a matter of discrimination on the part of LAX officials?”
Discrimination or neglect? Fil-Ams tend to be the forgotten community in the US, maybe because they are not usually the most vocal. But Fil-Ams have made great contributions to American society.
Americans as well as Europeans and Middle Eastern peoples are well served by Filipino medical front-liners, and their heroism during the pandemic is unquestioned.
Filipinos served in the US armed forces—veterans of several wars and military campaigns. Many older travelers are retired servicemen, wanting to go home to the Philippines to reunite with families, but are forced to wait for the worst of the pandemic to recede. Now that they can travel, they face a new obstacle.
Fil-Ams deserve better than being exiled to the MSC. PAL is fighting for more than its own interest—as a flag carrier must. The airline is also fighting for the welfare of fellow Filipinos who are its most valued passengers.
LA City intervention
The Los Angeles city government should act decisively to put a stop to this madness. LA Mayor Eric Garcetti recently declared his office stands with the Asian American Pacific Islander community, particularly in the wake of recent racist assaults on Filipino-Americans and other Asians in California and around the US
On other issues of importance to Asian communities, to Fil-Ams in particular, the mayor should stand firmly with these very important fellow Americans.
This is not the first time this has happened. For several months back in 2018, LAWA required most PAL flights to use a very remote gate in a distant part of the airfield, accessible only by bus. The rationale was that PAL departure times had to be moved to a later time so that flights could arrive in Manila after the NAIA runway reopened (NAIA closed down the runway for several hours every night to undertake repairs and resurfacing). Once the runway repairs were completed in 2018, PAL flights moved back to the main Tom Bradley terminal at LAX, to the relief of passengers.
So what’s the reason for the forced transfer to MSC now? LAWA cannot blame runway repairs at NAIA. They can’t even point to congestion at LAX (the reason why the MSC was built) because the pandemic has led to many flight cutbacks and lower travel volumes, so there are lots of available gates at the Tom Bradley main terminal. The other major Asian airlines, though, are staying put at Tom Bradley.
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