THE Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) have asked some airlines to cut the number of their flights to address the problem of these getting canceled.
In a report on “24 Oras,” another solution being considered is to move some flight schedules to the evenings or past midnight.
MIAA officer in charge Bryan Co said the agency was urging the airlines “to mount a schedule that they can support in terms of the number of aircraft that they have.”
Transportation Undersecretary Robert Lim said, “Overbooking is not the issue here. Flights are canceled because there are red lightning.”
“That’s the problem and it just disrupts the operation of a pre-existing congested airport,” Lim said.
AirAsia said it had yet to be told by the MIAA to decrease its flights because it no longer had any canceled flights.
It is considering transferring some of its flights to the nighttime.
Cebu Pacific spokesperson Carmina Romero said, “Given the sudden unprecedented number of grounded aircraft, some of which will be out of service for a considerable amount of time, we have reduced our flight schedule to account for the long-term unserviceable aircraft and enabling more standby aircraft on the day.”
Philippine Airlines spokesperson Cielo Villaluna said, “In compliance with said request, Philippine Airlines has reduced flights to improve schedule reliability, on-time performance, and most importantly, to ensure operational flexibility.” (GMA Integrated News)
