Naia ramp controllers seek pay hike

RAMP controllers at the Ninoy Aquino Internal Airport are demanding a salary hike, complaining that never had any pay increase for the last 10 years.

In a position paper submitted to Manila International Airport Authority General Manager, Jose Angel Honrado, the ramp controllers said that a number of their colleagues have opted for employment greener pastures here and overseas.

In a span of two years alone, NAIA terminal 1 already lost seven RCs, four of them were hired by a Middle Eastern airport and three, by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines on a contractual status with a salary of P980 per day. In comparison, a NAIA employed RC is paid only P588 daily, the position paper said.

RCs, as they are called, are licensed air traffic controllers stationed at the four terminals. They are housed in glass booths with a view of the tarmac guiding aircrafts to their respective parking bays.

Their services become a necessity when several aircraft need to be simultanesouly parked in their respective bays.

The ramp controllers said that under a new salary scheme adopted by the CAAP, a newly-hired controller will receive P28,000 a month by 2012.

About 80 percent of the country’s ramp controllers have pending applications abroad as air traffic control assistant or airport personnel.

“The competitive salaries abroad and the creation of the CAAP is making it difficult for MIAA to hire additional RCs. “This alarming scenario will continue until a reasonable compensation package and a secure employment is obtained,” the paper said

The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States has recommended the use of ramp control services in major airports in recognition of the increasing number of airplanes operating in busy airports, the paper said. –Eric B. Apolonio, Manila Standard Today