Investigate delayed flights!

Batas Mauricio .

I HOPE Rep. Cesar Sarmiento will include in the proposed law on airports in the country that he is pushing for adoption and enactment a provision that would ensure the timely departure and arrival of airplanes, in connection with the schedules announced by them.

Right now, flight delays — whether take-offs or touch downs — have become a common, if sorry, occurrence. I am estimating that these delays is causing hundreds of millions of pesos of lost revenues on the part of passengers who have been unable to leave or arrive on time in the country’s airports.

I am proposing that airline companies be made to pay hefty fines every time their flights are delayed — whether take-offs or touch downs. Now, what do I mean by “hefty fines”? I believe that a refund of 50 percent of the value of the ticket in the delayed flights should be okay, the proceeds of which can then be divided between the affected passengers and the government. If this happens, I am sure delayed flights will be gone in a jiffy.

I know these delayed flights for a fact because I have been given the privilege of travelling on air, too.

The last air travels I had were those on May 25, 2018 ant May 26, 2018, from Manila to Coron, Palawan, and from Coron back to Manila.

In the Manila to Coron trip, the first boarding time given to us was, if I am not mistaken, something like 9:05 am. This was stretched to about 9:45 am, or some 40 or so minutes later, and, finally, up to about 10 am In the Coron to Manila flight, we were supposed to board at 11:35 am or so, if I am not mistaken again, but we were allowed to board nearly at 1 pm already.

What confounded the problem all the more was the fact that Coron airport had no air-conditioning. This, to me, was inexplicable because more than a majority of the people who travel using that airport are foreign tourists. Consequently, on May 26, 2018, every traveler there were perspiring a lot, pumping air from their make-shift fans. And the airline company didn’t even attempt to offer any palliative, like coffee or some food, which are normally offered when flights are delayed.

With the way airports in the country are being run today, it is very clear that no agency of government seems to have been tasked to oversee the problem of delayed flights (or, if there is such an agency, it is nothing but a useless body), which are oftentimes explained by the captains of the affected aircrafts as “heavy air traffic”. The same thing is true with other perennial airport problems, like lack of air-con units.

As what I noticed in our flight from Coron to Manila, there was even no one who could entertain passengers’ concerns, particularly those who would be unable to keep up with their appointments on account of the flight delays. Then, it is aggravating that in Coron, there is even no decent restaurant where passengers, local or otherwise, can eat while they are waiting.

I am sure air travelers would consider it a big favor by Rep. Sarmiento of Catanduanes if he can find a way to plug these very common and recurring airport problems. Solving these problems could bring in more tourists to the Philippines, and this could even catapult Sarmiento to the upper chamber, the Senate, or as a replacement for someone called “Art Tugade” at the Department of Transportation.