Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) is taking full responsibility and accountability for the air traffic system glitch that hit the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) on New Year’s Day.
CAAP Director General Manuel Antonio Tamayo expressed the CAAP’s position on the issue during Thursday, January 12 hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Services on the incident.
“I am here today with Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista and colleagues from other airport authorities to shed light on what transpired last January 1 and hopefully to provide clarity to all questions,” Tamayo said during the hearing presided by Sen. Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Public Services.
“We again extend our sincerest apologies to all those who were inconvenienced and greatly affected by this circumstance which is something we are not proud of,” Tamayo further said.
The CAAP, he said, views the fiasco “as a lesson.”
“We take this as a lesson, and we manifest to this honorable committee and fellow Filipinos that we take full responsibility and accountability for what happened,” Tamayo said.
Nevertheless, the CAAP chief said the agency is committed to “see through the ordeal” and remain transparent in all their dealings and service to the Filipino in ensuring that the country’s skies are safe.
The power outage had affected at least 600 flights and stranded about 65,000 passengers whose flights were either diverted, cancelled, or delayed.
As a result of, at least six senators lodged separate resolutions seeking a Senate inquiry on the air traffic management system glitch that hit NAIA.