The state of (the) Philippine(s) aviation
 

There's this guy who applied for his Student Pilot's License at the ATO (or CAA or whatever it's called) and was told his license will be ready in 21 days.

The next guy comes and was given the license the same day.

The difference?

A couple of thousand bucks!

:=

Looks like it will take a real massive overhaul to rid the Philippines of corruption...and the prez isn't helping at all...

curious
 

was this couple of thousand bucks from first hand information or hearsay?

owh come on....it's the land of Pinoys...what d u expect?

Oh, yes of course. This is indeed FIRSTHAND info....
And the worse thing is...the first guy is a foreigner...who didn't know how it works here...well, that time...but not anymore...so word gets around...not only in the Philippines...you know how aviation is a small world...

Not really a good image we project to the outside world...

ATO. CAAP. same people, new name... what do you expect? :ugh:

Is there a Guy involved who´s name is Steve Snelson or Scott Michaels by any chance? Just wonder where the Wonderer is now....

Fly safe and land happy

NG

The Philippine regulator is a joke. Bribes are normal, otherwise you just won't get anything done. I'll be surprised if they ever get out of the FAA cat 2!

just wonderin' what you guys, the pilots, can say about the atc service being provided by ato. you always mention in here the corrupt system by the ato (the safety division to be exact) but what about the air traffic division. i heard that with the upcoming caap, things will be better... service-wise. there are still many highly capable controllers left in there and if you, the customers, would only intervene they can provide you with even better service. they've asked for new equipment and advanced technology countless times but nothing new has arrived. maybe you can ask for them. you have the say; afterall, you're paying for the service.

sad to say, sabit din daw ang safety division sa caap. i just dont know how can they improve if they continue to be under the same umbrella as those guys.

my 2 cents worth.

pare

I'm not sure if it infringes on safety, but most MNL ATC controllers are heard to have a "P-F" deficiency.

repapips
 

i totally agree with you. i've been an atc for a period of time now and i still miss on my p & f sometimes. but i never had safety issues. besides, even other atc's have their own problem. the arabs pronounce p as b; the indians pronounce v as w. even the aussies and the kiwis, they pronounce a as i. bottomline here is that every atc in manila is at least level 4 in english.
going back to the topic, the state of philippine aviation, speaking on an atc point-of-view, something is needed to be done asap. last news i heard is that caap is not seen until next year. a lot of controllers are seeing it as the answer but if they continue to delay it, more and more are expected to leave. soon, there wont be enough personnel to man the sectors. this would mean more delayed flights. and don't blame the atc's, they are humans with limitations. we cannot compromise safety.
speaking of safety, we are working our arse off while this division is busy making money. and they even have the guts to include themselves to be part of the authority (caap)!!:D

Even some pilots have P-F deficiencies! With the present state of equipment they have i think the ATC are doing a good job..... although even they say it can be improved.:)

pare
 

You're right pare. (Almost)Everyone has his own particular deficiency.
Sorry if I hit some strings there, no offense meant. It was just an observation and implied with the hope of seeing an improvement in the future.

I just couldn't help it when the other guy asks, "What did he say? Did he just call that traffic, Gulp Air One Payb Por?"

I mean it wasn't a slip. It was his standard way of saying it. Well at least for that particular guy.

Again, this is not an insult but an invitation for improvement.

Cheers!

thats punny
 

sorry fellows..it took myself several readings before i understood and caught on to what this subject was about (p and f). :)

so instead of "park at gate 14..it would be fark at gate 14?"

"roger and good day"

point taken repapips and there's definitely room for improvement. i may have an idea who this person is.
urgood: just to give you a heads-up on what kind of equipment they are using; manila area control still uses the 20-something year-old radar connected to a french system; manila approach's equipment is from japan; clark has an italian system while subic still uses the american one. as a result, there's no automatic interfacing because of the different softwares. in other parts of the world, starting from the most remote tower up to the main trunk, they are using only one system so everything is automated.
more than 50% of the traffic are gps & rnav capable and yet they still need to navigate thru various points. just imagine the fuel and time you can save when, after reporting over the manila-hongkong boundary, you've been cleared to track direct to 10 miles final for the approach. controllers can always do this but because the radar is unreliable they opt not to. and dont get me started with the frequencies. controller ability na lang talaga ang nagdadala. they really need upgrading in there.
where is the government spending those revenues? the airlines are not getting the services they deserve.

pare most line pilots in the philippines are usually venting out their frustration with the state of our atc and traffic handling. comparison with international standards cannot be avoided. thanks for giving us an insight of how prehistoric our equipments are. my guess is still corruption and red tape? or government just doesn't care. im sure you guys are in a high stressed situation most of the time, just wanted to commend our atc for a hard job well done....

Yes indeed pare

Bravo to our Air Traffic Controllers!!! :D
With all these outdated & insynchronizable equipment, they're the last line of defense.
I guess that's where the priority should go. To equipment upgrade.

Well if GMA gets her wish and Clark becomes the gateway airport there is alot that needs to be done. Dont think they will be able to run the approach control freq out of the tower forever.

you can also add the ground control to the workload of the Clark tower.

Kudos to the ATC for doing a good job inspite of their old equipment. :ok:

Thanks
 

the ATCs thank you for your sentiments.
KAchicas: im sure we're no different from our foreign counterparts. they have sophisticated equipment and far more advanced system that make them sound good and really confident. plus they are motivated. when it comes to skills, we are equally able as they are. i say this coz i've seen it. albeit, i think we are better because we continue to work eventhough we don't know if we're gonna get paid or not (unpaid claims/overtime dating back to 2 years).
becoming an authority (privatization is better) was good news at the beginning but nothing has changed so far. it is evident that they are just using this to get out of the faa cat 2.

pare
 

What does "becoming an authority" mean?
You mean there are people unpaid for 2 years there? I didn't realize this could happen in a government entity.