Naia woes

Following the praise releases regarding ongoing reform and improvement at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia), I can’t wait for my next overseas trip to experience all these good things for myself. I never had problems at the airport even in the days when it was voted as one of the worst airports in the world. One of the biggest improvements was simply relocating the obstacle course x-ray from the entrance of the terminals to the immigration gates. This reduced crowding and long lines at the entrances, making for smoother access. Why did it take years for someone to study the flow of departures and only keep steps necessary to get a passenger from the curb to the check-in counter? In most airports, the understandable bottleneck is the security check once past that you are clear to board.

In the past, you had to hurdle six steps before boarding your flight. On the road to the terminal, vehicles are flagged down causing unnecessary delays. Why? Guards peek inside, then ask that the trunk and glove compartment be opened for “inspection.”

(1) After unloading on the curb, you cannot enter the terminal without showing your ticket and ID to the guard, (2) verification of ID is repeated at check-in (3) before entering immigration, (5) immigration, (6) security check after immigration at the boarding gate. I have been to airports where facial recognition is at work. Here in Manila, on my last trip, the check-in clerk demanded a paper copy of the ticket even if I had already completed the online check-in and had both a booking reference and a digital boarding pass.

I have not needed it yet, but one of the things that Naia needs is a shuttle to service passengers making transfers to the different terminals. At the moment, you need a cab to get from Terminal 1 to 3 when this should be a free service paid from terminal fees. We need new baggage carts and shuttle buses to major hotels in the city. At the very least, a clear path to metered taxi service devoid of all the hawkers offering overpriced transport. When I discussed my wish list of airport improvements with a foreign transport consultant on a recent flight to Iloilo, he smiled and remarked, “You travel too much, and compare airports too much.” Should passengers passing through Naia just take it for what it is now, or demand better? Should we just ignore the issues at Naia until it hits home?

My complaint today is about baggage claim. On full flights, passengers hog the conveyor belt with their carts making retrieval difficult. There are days when luggage handlers arrange the luggage with the handles out, and make sure bags are not piled one on top of the other. Now a problem hit home. My niece arrived at Terminal 3 on Dec. 18, 2024. She flew Cathay Pacific from Madrid and said it took about 45 minutes for her luggage to appear on the conveyor belt. There are monitors at the baggage claim that should show incoming luggage but these were turned off. The monitors showed no activity. When luggage appeared on the conveyor belt, she noted that many of these appeared “damaged.” She was surprised that her Rimowa suitcase appeared unlocked when she locked it securely at check-in. She did not give it much thought until she unpacked at home.

Visible scratches on the lock of her suitcase suggest that it was forcibly opened. The interior zipper of the luggage was open. This was closed before flight. She felt violated because all her bras, neatly stored in packing tubes, were scattered throughout the luggage. Someone went through and emptied the packing tubes in search of valuables. Pasalubongs were missing too: lip balm sets, two Manchego cheeses, three packs of olive oil sets (each containing five 20-milimeter bottles of olive oil (only one pack remained), etc. Someone in the baggage handling department did his shopping from returning residents’ effects.

The value of the missing items isn’t much but the thought of being robbed at Christmas is a big deal. What makes this theft worrisome is the fact that items that did not belong to my niece were found in her luggage: a beaded purse, a denim purse containing used and dirty makeup brushes and a sponge, a bottle of cologne, and half a shirt! This suggests that my niece’s loss was not an isolated case. Other bags were rifled through and things were returned haphazardly. I presume the other victims did not want to spoil their Christmas going through the trouble of filing a complaint, and just charged it to bad experience.

It was explained to my niece that baggage handlers are outsourced and not regular employees of the airport. That is not an excuse. When she asked to review the CCTV footage of the baggage area at the time of the theft, she was first told that recordings were erased, then the footage was found, but useless because nobody seemed to care that the camera view was obstructed. What scares me is the possibility that contraband, like a bullet or drugs, can be introduced into an innocent traveler’s luggage.