Foreigners marvel at us, Filipinos, simply because we start the Christmas Season at the onset of the “ber month,” which is September. I recall that even US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson, in one of her tweets, has somehow been Filipinized with the Christmas spirit engulfing her, shared that she already adorned her Christmas tree.
Yes, the Holiday season is upon us – Christmas lights and sounds show is back at the Ayala triangle while the main thoroughfare of Ayala Avenue as well as streets in BGC is bedecked with lighted decorations.
And, for the airline companies, it means an uptick in business with the influx of overseas Filipino workers and “balikbayans” coming home for the holidays.
Actually, the peak season for airline operations commenced Tuesday, November 15. This brings to mind the incident, which my neighbor columnist Philip Cu-unjieng wrote that a couple of weeks back Singapore Airlines passengers deplaned after 90 minutes wait because “Terminal 2 gates had been overbooked, and there was a logjam of airplanes waiting to make use of the available gates.”
Bedlam conditions at the gates and such unwarranted incident repeating could be possible with the start of the peak season and more flights coming in.
Now here’s the thing, heard from the airport corridors that only eight of the passenger boarding bridge (PBB) are fully operational out of the 20. Of the number, eight are non-operational and four are partially operational. PBBs are motorized bridge attached from the aircraft to the terminal used for enplaning and deplaning passengers.
Comparably, the PBBs of Terminal 1 and 2, at 20 and 12, respectively, are fully operational.
Another important equipment that needs to be addressed is the visual guidance docking system for all the gates. Like some of the PBBs, the visual guidance docking system has to be fixed.
Visual docking guidance systems guide pilots from the taxiway to the stop position on the airport apron. Simply put, there’s no need for a ramp marshall to guide the aircraft to its exact position in front of the gate.
Tough job for Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) General Manager Cesar Chiong. From what I’ve gathered, GM Cesar has meticulously been working to improve airport services to provide comfort to inbound and outbound passengers. One positive development that he did was to tweak the lightning alert levels, aligning it to international standard.
The lightning early warning system alerts airport ground operators when severe weather and lightning threats have the potential to affect the aircraft. Prior to the tweaking, a yellow lightning alert is up when thunderstorms and lightning is at approximately 19 kilometers (KM) and 10 KM for red alert, which means temporary stoppage of airport operation.
Now, the yellow alert has been reduced to 10 KM and five for red alert at par with international practice. From what I’ve heard, the international airline companies appreciated the realignment.
As the wheels of airline operations churn more aggressively, particularly with revenge travelers, GM Cesar’s plate is full to improve and smoothen the operations of the country’s premier gateways.
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