Ramp controllers to stay at NAIA-3

MANILA, Philippines - Four of eight ramp controllers scheduled to leave the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA-3) today will stay until they can be replaced, an official said yesterday.

This means operations at the NAIA-3 will not be disrupted, though the terminal will have only nine ramp controllers dividing eight-hour shifts among themselves.

All eight controllers were supposed to go back to their mother unit, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines, which would have reduced the number of controllers at the NAIA-3 to five. The CAAP ramp controllers were allowed to moonlight at NAIA-3 due to the difficulty of finding licensed ones, as required by law.

“We were able to convince four of the ramp controllers to withdraw their resignation,” says Milo Basilio, the chief of NAIA-3 ramp controllers. He added that he is recruiting additional manpower from other sources.

He said Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) general manager Jose Honrado has approved granting permanent positions for 38 ramp controllers. Of these, 29 would receive Salary Grade 15 (P15,000); eight would get Salary Grade 18 (P22,000) and one would be entitled to Salary Grade 19 (P28,000).

Ramp controllers who are under contract with LBP Manpower Services, which has a deal with the MIAA, receive only P13,000 a month.

The complement of 38 ramp controllers falls short of 48 personnel who are supposed to man NAIA Terminals 1, 2, and 3 and the Manila Domestic Airport. Each terminal would have 12 controllers.

Ramp controllers provide direction, information, guidance and warnings to aircraft pilots of possible dangers and obstructions. They work in close coordination with air traffic controllers.