MANILA, Philippines - Incoming Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Ed Monreal told airport press during a meeting on Monday that he will implement several measures that will ensure smooth flow of passenger movements at the nation'€™s four airport terminals.
A no non-sense aviation technocrat with decades of airport operation experience, Monreal said that he will enjoin airport media to focus on rebuilding the tattered image of the premiere airport and enlist their support in reporting malpractices of some €œbad eggs€ operating at the airport.
"There will be changes,"€ quipped the incoming genneral manager, enumerating the most urgent concerns such as public transport, security and safety.
Monreal said that he would allow the white regular public taxis to pick up passengers at the arrival area to accommodate passengers especially during peak arrival hours but subject to strict rules to protect passengers from abuse by transport operators.
On the issue of safety and security, Monreal said the shortage of trained personnel manning the X-ray machines will be addressed in coordination with the Office of Transportation and Security (OTS) which is in-charge of the security screening of passengers, their baggage and cargoes at the NAIA.
Monreal said that as of now, the OTS has only 700 screeners in the four terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that handle thousands of departing passengers per day.
"€œKulang na kulang sa tao, kaya magdadagdag tayo para mapabilis ang security checks sa mga paalis na pasahero."
To augment the shortage of screeners and help decongest long queueing especially during peak hours, Monreal suggested utilizing the services of some members of the Airport Police Department (APD) who undertook training/seminar on how to operate X-ray machines especially the body scanning machines bought by MIAA.
Forget about "laglag bala"€, more high-resolution cameras will be installed at the X-ray screening areas to monitor movements of personnel, passengers and luggage's to discourage illegal activities.
He promised that with the help of everybody, NAIA will be delisted very soon from being tagged as one of the "€œworld'€™s worse airports".