The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) should ensure that the thousands of passengers who were pestered by the technical glitch at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) over the weekend would be able to get a full reimbursement.
Thus, said Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda on Monday, Jan. 2 as legislators review the aftermath of the unmitigated disaster that led to hundreds of flight cancellations.
Salceda said CAAP can perform this favor to the passengers by certifying the air traffic management system power issue that caused these flights in the country to be cancelled as a “safety reason” for the flight cancellations.
“It’s the least that the DOTr (Department of Transportation) and the CAAP can do, at this point,” the Bicolano said.
By his computation, the refunds could reach up to P660 million, assuming the average airline ticket cost among the 66,000 affected passengers is P10,000. He said this estimate will cover for the 282 flights cancelled Sunday, Jan. 1 and the 48 flights cancelled Monday.
Under the DOTC-DTI Joint Administrative Order (JAO) No. 1 s. 2012, “In case the air carrier cancels the flight because of force majeure, safety and/or security reasons, as certified by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, a passenger shall have the right to be reimbursed for the full value of the fare.”
Salceda said that, “Because this is clearly the fault of the government and not of the airlines, many passengers are unable to avail of basic compensation and accommodation packages such as free hotel rooms".
“The JAO apparently does not have a provision for when it’s clearly the fault of the administrative agencies,” the House Committee on Ways and Means committee chairman noted.
“So, the least the CAAP can do is certify this event as a safety reason for cancellation, so that the reimbursement mechanism can be set into motion," he added.