Airport execs liable for Manila's New Year’ Day fiasco: Senator Poe

Airport officials may be held liable for years of neglect that led to the glitch on New Year’s Day resulting in the shutdown of the Philippine airspace and 600 cancelled flights, Sen Grace Poe said on Monday. At a press briefing, Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, said the dilapidated state of the Air Traffic Management Center (ATMC) of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) reflected the incompetence of concerned officials. “This started from several administrations. The fact that they were allowed to operate without having proper maintenance in the last three years is itself a violation, is incompetence or negligence on the part of the management of CAAP itself and not just individuals,” she said. With no immediate solution in sight, Poe expressed concern that the Jan 1 “technical glitch,” which inconvenienced about 65,000 passengers and caused airline losses of up to P100 million, could happen again. Poe made the statement as she indicated that her committee was releasing this week or next week the report on its inquiry into the New Year’s Day glitch and after she and other Senate leaders and transportation officials inspected ATMC facilities in Pasay City on Feb 6. “[A glitch] can really still happen. Inasmuch as we don’t want to scare the public, but right now, [Caap is] more focused on [addressing] the situation because it already happened,” she said.<br/>