CAB endorses Laoag Air despite penalty last year

The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) has certified that Laoag International Airlines is "fit, willing and able" to fly, and serves the "public interest," despite the penalty it imposed on LIA early last year.

At yesterday’s resumption of the hearing on the Nov. 11 LIA Flight 585 crash which killed 19 of 34 people on board, CAB executive director Manuel Jose said LIA met the requirements needed for CAB to issue a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessities (CPCN).

The CPCN is supposed to certify the viability — in financial terms — of an airline, and without this, an airline cannot operate. The CPCN is renewed every five years.

San Jose told the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) panel at the hearing that on Jan. 8, 2001, the CAB imposed a fine of P310,000 on LIA for failing to submit a monthly report on its "traffic and operating statistics," referring to the number and flow of passengers availing of LIA’s services, as well as data on the flights made by LIA’s planes.

The CAB chief did not specify how many nor for which months LIA did not submit reports. LIA filed a motion for reconsideration on the penalty.

While the motion has not been resolved by the CAB — reportedly because the "board has not been meeting regularly" — it granted LIA’s petition to have its CPCN renewed on Jan. 15, 2001.

"That was just reportorial... not substantial to the issuance CPCN," San Jose said.

However, DOTC Undersecretary Arturo Valdez said that the reportorial infraction cannot be ignored.

"Report(s) reflect faithfulness of an airline to follow the rules. It was indeed, needed to know, if they are fit to operate," he said.

Valdez head the DOTC’s five-man fact-finding committee that investigating the crash.

LIA board chairman and majority owner Paul Ng disagreed, saying the fine imposed by CAB on LIA was for reportorial infractions on sales figures and "not because of safety violations."