US embassy cable - 05MANILA3838

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 003838 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOT, SINGAPORE, TOKYO ALSO FOR FAA 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/19/2015 
TAGS: EAIR, RP 
SUBJECT: AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER SHORTAGE RAISES SAFETY 
CONCERNS 
 
REF: MANILA 3760 NOTAL 
 
Classified By: ECONOMIC COUNSELOR ROBERT LUDAN.  REASON 1.4 B AND D. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C)  Civil aviation officials admitted a 44% deficiency 
in air traffic controllers nationwide and blamed government 
restrictions on hiring new personnel and adjusting salary 
levels for the recent work slowdowns and threatened strike. 
Despite resource constraints and lack of autonomy, civair 
officials are taking some steps to address both the air 
controllers' sources of unhappiness and any potential for 
heightened safety risks.  Embassy will stress the need to 
meet international civil aviation standards and continue to 
monitor the situation.  End Summary. 
 
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Directives Against Hiring and OT Cause Labor Strain 
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2.  (C)  Following up on reports of a looming air traffic 
controller strike (reftel), Embassy officers met with 
Department of Transport and Communications (DOTC) 
Undersecretary Ed Pagunsan, in charge of Air Operations, on 
August 17.  Pagunsan confirmed that the air traffic 
controllers (ATC) had initiated several slowdowns and 
threatened to strike to underscore their demands for higher 
pay and shorter working hours.  The President's Office 
circulated a directive earlier this year that imposed a 
hiring freeze and prohibited replacing workers who had 
retired or vacated their positions.  As a result, ATCs were 
forced to work more overtime shifts.  Pagunsan said the ATCs 
were occasionally working up to 16 hours at a time.  The 
controllers were even more disgruntled by another government 
directive that prohibited overtime pay.  Pagunsan said he 
sympathized with the controllers, but his hands were tied by 
these government constraints.  The Philippine Air Traffic 
Controllers Association (PATCA) was asking for the 
"occupational specialty pay" of 50% differential granted to 
government airline pilots but were refused because it would 
raise their salaries above that of the DOTC Secretary. 
Controllers are not allowed to form a union that negotiates 
pay and strikes are illegal, but they are allowed to form an 
association. 
 
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ATO Needs Autonomy and Control of Resources 
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3.  (C)  Pagunsan estimated that the Air Transportation 
Office (ATO) had only two-thirds as many air traffic 
controllers as it needed.  He wanted at least 900 controllers 
countrywide, but the government's financial problems prevent 
DOTC from hiring a full complement of ATCs.  DOTC is the 
third largest revenue generator in the country after the 
Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs, he 
said, but the millions of dollars earned by departure and 
landing, overflight, and license fees must all be remitted to 
the Treasury.  DOTC and the ATO must submit funding requests 
each year through the government budget process and cannot 
retain and use any of the money they collect to improve or 
expand services.  Pagunsan said the problem would be solved 
with the passage of a Civil Aviation bill that is stalled in 
Congress at present.  The bill upgrades the ATO to an 
independent Civil Aviation Authority and gives it autonomy 
over resources and spending. 
 
4.  (C)  In a meeting August 18, ATO Assistant Secretary Nilo 
Jatico confirmed that there were too few air traffic 
controllers (ATC) in the Philippines.  He said Manila had 300 
ATCs but needed about 400, and another 600 for the rest of 
the country.  Jatico showed Econoff an independent study he 
commissioned on the issues facing air traffic controller 
stations in the country.  Although the report is confidential 
and could not be released, the Executive Summary stated there 
was a 44% deficiency in the number of ATCs countrywide.  He 
admitted that some of his controllers were leaving the 
Philippines to work in much higher-paying jobs in the Middle 
East and Asia.  Although he successfully persuaded ten of 
twenty controllers who were retiring or emigrating this to 
stay on their jobs, he asked for additional money to hire and 
train many new controllers this year. 
 
5.  (C)  Jatico said he pre-empted several work slowdowns 
over the past weekend.  Controllers must agree to work 
anywhere in the Philippines when they are hired, so he has 
the prerogative to move them around the country at will. 
When four controllers tried to create a severely understaffed 
control tower by overlapping their leave plans, he brought in 
retired ATOs ahead of time to fill their positions. 
Afterward, he removed the disruptive ATCs and put them on 
probation.  For future contingencies, Jatico said he was 
training air force personnel in civil air control procedures. 
 Although Jatico was unwilling to address most of PATCA's 
complaints regarding pay and benefits, he spoke to the 
President directly to obtain an exemption from the government 
to allow overtime pay for ATCs, he said. 
 
6.  (SBU)  Northwest Airline General Manager Todd Anderson 
told EconCouns in a meeting August 17 that his pilots had not 
reported anything amiss with traffic control procedures.  He 
said his pilots and air crew would be the first to identify a 
problem and report it, though he agreed Northwest flights 
were high profile and may receive priority treatment. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (C)  Other offices and agencies within the Embassy told 
us they cannot confirm any degradation in air traffic control 
services at this time.  Although the potentially higher 
safety risks arising from overworked and disgruntled air 
traffic controllers may not require urgent action, it is 
important for the Philippines to address the shortage in the 
near term.  Embassy will encourage passage of a civil 
aviation law that gives an independent entity the freedom to 
hire and train the requisite number of air traffic 
controllers.  We will continue to monitor the situation, keep 
in contact with FAA and U.S. airline reps, and use 
opportunities with high level officials, including the DOTC 
Secretary, to stress the need to maintain or exceed 
 
SIPDIS 
international standards in all areas of civil aviation. 
JOHNSON