Airport glitch brings to light 2012 order on passenger rights

Marco Maligaya was an hour midflight bound for Manila when the pilot announced that their plane had to turn back because the control tower at Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) had lost connection.

But upon the plane’s return to Hong Kong, Maligaya and the other passengers had to wait three more hours before they were allowed to disembark. Eventually he had to stay one more night before he could fly back home.

In Cagayan de Oro City, Lucky dela Rosa attempted to book a flight to Manila on Monday after his Sunday flight was canceled.

But there was no customer service at the airport and the website was down. It took him 12 hours of trying, to no avail.

“The burden can’t always be on the passenger. Stranded passengers should be accommodated and well taken care of,” he said in frustration.

A transport advocacy network, The Passenger Forum (TPF), lamented the shutdown of the country’s main gateway, especially during the holiday season.

“Aside from spoiling the holidays, it also has a negative effect on our economy,” TPF convener Primo Morillo said.

Directive

The shutdown has called attention to an administrative order issued in 2012 which has suddenly gained significance in the light of that incident.

Joint Administrative Order No. 1—issued by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department of Transportation and Communications (the predecessor of the Department of Transportation)—outlines a “Summary of the Rights of Air Passengers,” covering the time the passenger purchases a ticket or sets foot at an airport.

The order includes, among other provisions, the right to be processed for check-in and the right to sufficient processing time, the right to compensation and amenities in case of flight delay or cancellation of flight, and the right to immediate payment of compensation.

Citing that order, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda said the least that the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) could do now is to “certify this event as a safety reason for cancellation, so that the reimbursement mechanism can be set into motion.”

He noted the order’s provision on the passenger’s right to be reimbursed the full value of his or her fare in the event of a “force majeure [for] safety and/or security reasons, as certified by the CAAP.”

‘Basic compensation’

Salceda, however, also pointed out that the order “apparently does not have a provision for when it’s clearly the fault of the administrative agencies.”

“Because this is clearly the fault of the government and not of the airlines, many passengers are unable to avail [themselves] of basic compensation and accommodation packages such as free hotel rooms,” he said.

“There is a clear need to update or change policies to reflect what passengers are entitled to when the government is at fault. There’s also a need to see whether the failure could have been avoided had the CAAP complied faithfully with, say, the State Safety Program for air operations,” he said, referring to an international framework on air travel rights that is available in the agency’s own website.

He urged Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista to “look into how the CAAP can compensate passengers hassled by these delays.”

“Passengers pay a terminal fee, and airlines pay fees to the CAAP. The [agency] failed both sectors, in this case. There’s real financial damage to both passengers and airlines as a result of this failure,” Salceda said.

“Beyond these policy changes, we need to hold some people accountable, too—so this never happens again. I can’t say this is force majeure. You can foresee power outages. You can foresee surges in air traffic. Someone was at fault here,” he added.

Meanwhile the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has expressed readiness to assist overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) whose flights were affected by the shutdown.

“Secretary (Susan) Ople has placed all Migrant Workers Office[s] (MWOs)… on alert to help OFWs stranded… due to Naia flight delays and cancellations,” DMW said.

MWOs, formerly known as Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (Polo), were tasked with providing on-site assistance to OFWs stranded in airports abroad, the department said.

Ople assured all “affected OFW passengers” that her department and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration “will continue to assist [them] until all flight schedules have been rebooked and are on track.” WITH A REPORT FROM JULIE M. AURELIO AND TINA G. SANTOS INQ

RELATED STORIES

Air passenger bill of rights signed

Naia power outage, tech glitch shut PH airspace