Underwhelming

The reputation of our airports depends on the total commitment, selfless dedication, and professional effort poured out by our airports’ governors, managers, and service providers, every single day. The first and last things that will be remembered are what travelers experience as they enter and exit from our gateways. That will spell the difference between praise and discontent.

Let’s start with airport safety and security bearing in mind how the 9-11 hijackers easily penetrated America’s airports and took over four aircraft, in which three managed to hit theirtargets. Twenty Filipinos — passengers, office workers, and a first responder — perished on that day 10 years ago. Can we prevent a 9-11 from happening here? How tight are the controls and how prepared are we to handle such an emergency? Have we learned our lessons from the Rizal Park fiasco? Are we capable of detecting, deterring, and defeating any threat to assets, lives, limbs, and reputations?

As for desirable appeal, it cannot be overemphasized that air travelers have the advantage of comparing our international airports with regional competitors. To be blunt, our airports are underwhelming in terms of looks, cleanliness, lighting, efficiency, passenger care, comfort, and convenience. Even safety and security have been occasionally thumbed down. Except for a handful of new local airports, the rest belong to a bygone era. If Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas still eyes higher political office, he needs to be decisive in transforming our gateways into welcoming havens and traveler’s delights.

At NAIA Terminal 3, for instance, passengers have noted the systemic breakdown of airport amenities since it opened. Its long corridors require “walk-alators” (people-mover walkways), but these, passengers note, have been out of order for the most part since T3 was opened for business three years ago. The “TEMPORARILY SHUT DOWN” signage there is pure deceit. They also say that apart from the arrival escalator’s shutdown for about a year now, they are denied the use of the air bridge; made to use the stairs a la Ninoyto alight from the plane; and cross the tarmac to the terminal (the same applies to the airport at Clark).

My brother frequently travels between Bacolod and Manila. He recently asked some mechanics why their equipment was always out of order. They replied that they aren’t given new replacement parts due to budget constraints. He and his fellow passengers now demand to know where the P750 and P200 in terminal fees they pay each time they travel, here and abroad, go to. They naturally suspect endemic malfeasance and misfeasance. My brother refused to pay his terminal fee and, in the end, the ground staff just let him be.

Who wouldn’t be incensed? The recorded passenger total that passed through NAIA’s terminal airports in 2010 was approximately 27 million. Assuming just the minimum of P200 per passenger, the annual take from passengers that went through NAIA’s portals is at least 5.4-billion pesos. When we factor in the terminal fee 750 pesos that international passengers fork out, the collections spike tremendously. But where the heck does their money go to, they ask? No one except for a handful really knows, and what it is used for. Passengers are sick and tired of being neglected; treated like milking cows, embarrassed by the poor state of our airports; and have had it subsidizing apathy and inefficiency to say the least.

Their laundry list goes on and on. Why, they ask, aren’t they able to use the terminal’s air bridges which they say are customer amenities? While airlines have done their part to make air travel affordable, why isn’t the government doing its part to make our airport terminals comfortable and convenient? Arriving in a taxi on a rainy day is yet another hassle — why is the drop-off point some distance from the curb, they ask? Security reasons, they’re told, even as security personnel routinely leave their posts to escort VIP’s inside. Outrageous!

As we mull the state of our airports, there is this compelling point that is difficult to disassociate from the discussion: 9-11 taught the world never to take safety and security for granted. Had America’s gatekeepers been on their toes on that day, humanity could have been spared the horrors of that horrible crime. Last Sunday, we remembered those whose lives were snuffed out by four groups of intelligent and determined mujahideen. In particular, we honor the 20 Filipino men and women who touched the face of God on Sept. 11, 2001:

Killed at World Trade Center

1. Grace Alegre-Cua, 40, accountant, Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking Co., from Infanta, Quezon.
2. Cesar A. Alviar, 60, accountant, Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.
3. Marlyn C. Bautista, 46, accounts payable department, Marsh& McLennan Cos. Inc.
4. Cecile M. Caguicla, 55, assistant vice-president of Finance, Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., graduate of St. Paul’s College Manila.
5. Jayceryll M. de Chavez, 24, assistant to the portfolio manager, Fiduciary Trust International, studied finance and economics at Rutgers.
6. Benilda Pascua Domingo, 37, utility worker, ABM Industries, from Barangay Sta. Maria in Laoag City.
7. Ramon Grijalvo, 58, computer programmer, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, a mechanical engineering graduate of the University of San Agustin.
8. Frederick Kuo Jr., 53, mechanical engineer, Washington Group International.
9. Arnold A. Lim, 28, analyst, Fiduciary Trust International, about to marry his girlfriend of seven years.
10. Manuel L. Lopez, 54, corporate tax manager, Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.
11. Carl Allen Peralta, 37, broker, Cantor Fitzgerald.
12. Rufino Conrado F. Santos III, 37, computer consultant, Accenture.
13. David Marc Sullins, 30, paramedic, CabriniHospital; he was able to take some of the injured people to local hospitals, re-entered the South Tower moments before it collapsed.
14. Hilario Soriano (Larry) Sumaya Jr., 42, technology manager, Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.
15. Hector Tamayo, 51, project manager, Vanderbilt Group Inc., from Aklan.
16. Maria Theresa Santillan, 27, customer service representative, eSpeed, a biology major from Rutgers University.
17. Judy Hazel Fernandez, 27, benefits specialist, Cantor Fitzgerald.
18. Cynthia Motus-Wilson, 52, head receptionist, International Office Centers Corp.
Killed in the planes
19. Ruben Ornedo, 39, propulsion engineer, Boeing Co.
20. Ronald Gamboa, 33, store manager, Gap.

Bin Laden may be dead, but his kind continues to inhabit the earth and sow terror. Airports remain a favorite hunting ground for hijackings or surprise attacks and should be aggressively monitored round-the-clock to prevent it from happening again.

Let’s move the state of our airports from underwhelming to overwhelmingly safe, secure, and delightful.
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By: Rafael M. Alunan III – ToTake A Stand
Source: Business World, Sept. 12, 2011
To view the original article, click here.

Related Topics:
Infrastructure – Airports
Tourism