Department of Transportation Imposes Tougher Sanctions To Airlines Misusing Airport Slots
TOUGHER SANCTIONS- The Department of Transportation (DoTr) said on Thursday that they will implement tougher sanctions to airlines misusing airport slots.
A report from PhilStar states that DoTr recently signed joint memorandum circular 2019-01, in which it expounded the definition of misusing airport slots in order to aid decongest NAIA.
DoTr further said that the slot misuse counts the holding of slots that the airline does not intend to operate, as well as the holding of slots for an operation other than planned for the purpose of denying capacity to another aircraft operator.
Also included in the slot misuse is the requisition of new slots that the airline does not intend to operate, and the requisition of slots for an operation other than indicated with the intention of gaining improved priority.
As per the article, DoTr further said that sanctions will be imposed in order to to provide teeth in the implementation of efficient slot utilization. Thus, the department added a timeslot committee to review the findings of the “slot coordinator”, who will start any disciplinary action against an airline that intentionally misuses its allocated slots.
“The airline who that operates services without the corresponding timeslots, on a regular basis, will not be entitled to historical precedence for either the actual times they operated or for the allocated times”, the department further added.
They also said that the airlines who intentionally misuse or inefficiently use timeslots may be relegated to a lower priority in future slot allocations.
Lastly, Transportation secretary Arthur Tugade said that to intentionally disregard the value of these airport slots is unethical, and an aggravation to the current state of congestion at NAIA. He further added that they have to recognize the domino effects of these slot misuses, thus, resulting in the massive inconvenience to air passengers.
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