Nationwide reshuffle of airport managers to take effect July 1

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) is pushing through with the reshuffling of airport managers by July 1 to ensure operational efficiency of the aviation facilities.

In a press conference on Tuesday, June 25, DOTC Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya said the rigodon of airport managers is part of the agency’s aim to make sure airports are up to standard and properly handled.

“We are pushing through with the reshuffling of airport managers by July 1. The rotation will be on a nationwide basis,” he said.

“It’s just a healthy policy of rotating people. Just like in the military, police. Some people have been there for decades so it’s not really healthy for an official to be there in his youthful years until he retires,” Abaya added.

The reshuffling move was being mulled by the agency a week after a Cebu Pacific aircraft skidded off the runway of Davao international airport, the country’s 3rd busiest.

Local officials and passengers criticized officials of the Davao airport, on top of Cebu Pacific’s pilots and cabin crew, for not responding quickly to the situation.

The announcement of the reshuffling decision came in the same day of the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines’ (CAAP) presentation of the results of the Davao airport incident.

Both pilots of the Cebu Pacific aircraft were suspended after CAAP ruled that the incident was due to pilot error.

The budget airline, however, was not suspended but was given “corrective recommendations”. – Rappler.com