Aviation Authorities To Airlines: Utilize Slots Or Face Sanctions

Aviation agencies urged airlines Wednesday to utilize their slots or face sanctions or even lose their slots under new agreements signed between airport and aviation authorities.

These stricter measures are detailed in four memorandum of agreements (MOA) signed by the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) and the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP).

The agreements include: (1) The Agreement on Revised Guidelines for Filing and Approval of Timeslots; (2) The Agreement on Exchange, Transfer or Sharing of Slots Between and Among Airlines (3 & 4) The Agreement on the Deployment of CAB monitors in all terminals in Manila and airports operated and owned by MIAA and CAAP.

Under the first agreement, the objective is to address congestion problems at NAIA and other terminals.

This can be done as soon as an applicant carries a required clearances from CAAP and MIAA to make sure there is a slot available before CAB issues an approval.

CAB said that also under the agreement, the period of application has shortened to five days from 10 to 15 days.

The second agreement meanwhile encourages the exchange of slots for a one-on-one basis such that requires applicants to notify the authorities involved of a slot transfer, exchange or sharing.

After gaining approval of a desired schedule from the NAIA’s third party slot coordinator, the Airport Coordination Australia airlines must gain clearance from MIAA and CAAP for terminal and runway clearance, respectively.

Authorizations from the three authorities are required before airlines file their application to operate with CAB.

In summary, these four agreements were crafted to make sure that slot allocations for flights are maximized and are actually flown.

Sanctions for non-compliance

The misuse of slots will be subject to sanctions including the termination of operations or the forfeiture of acquired slots; an imposition of lower priority on the airline for future slot requests the imposition of fines by the CAB and CAAP.

The misuse of slots includes the holding of slots that an airline does not intend to operate; the intentional operation of a flight at a significantly different time from it approved schedule and the operation of flights without a slot.

In an inter-agency meeting and press briefing, CAB Executive Director Carmello Arcilla said that the Board is empowered to impose a maximum of Php 5,000 per violation.

“Sometimes we impose it on a per passenger basis. It depends on the situation,” Arcilla said.

Arcilla meanwhile said that the demand for a slot to fly from the NAIA has been increasing. In 2015, a daily average of 684 flight movements was recorded at the NAIA out of the available 880 allocations.

“We want to make sure that slots are available for any airline which intends to use the airport,” Arcilla said.

He also clarified that there will be no increase in slots by way of memorandum, however, the authorities are rationalizing the allocation and maximize the utilization of existing slots.

Smoother ops

CAAP Director General William Hotchkiss III in a statement said that the stricter and more detailed guidelines on slot usage will also guarantee smoother airport operations.

He said that authorities will be able to address the concern of flight delay by means of this agreement since each and every slot will be dedicated to registered flights.

“Removing those not cleared to fly allows us to follow a day’s official schedule to the second,” Hotckiss said.

This will lessen flight disturbances for airline passengers.

Under the third and fourth agreement—one between the CAB and MIAA and another between CAB and CAAP, the CAB has put in place Monitoring and Public Assistance Desks at the terminals that will respond to passenger concerns and monitor the operations of airlines to ensure their compliance.

CAB said that it hopes have monitors in all airports in the Philippines since there are currently only four functional Monitoring and Public Assistance Desks. The goal is to have a total of 32 desks manned by CAB.

MIAA General Manager Jose Angel Honrado described the agreements as the “legacy” of the three authorities to the next administration.

“These agreements will provide the framework for the next administration in working towards passenger convenience and global standards in airport operations—the same goals we held to these past years,” Hornado said.

Likewise, MIAA spokesperson David De Castro assured the smooth turnover of airport and aviation authorities from the current administration to the next administration.

“These are the goals we have been holding to the past years. These are the legacy works that this current administration will want to impart to the next administration,” De Castro said. (PNA) BNB/ANP