DOTr may privatize air traffic control

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Transportation wants to privatize the communication, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS-ATM) system to secure enough funds for its upgrade and prevent a repeat of the airspace shutdown.

Transportation Undersecretary Roberto Lim told reporters that the DOTr may privatize the CNS-ATM system in the future, adding to the list of infrastructure that the agency plans to turn over to the private sector.

To prevent a repeat of the New Year fiasco, Lim said the DOTr is looking at the option of putting up an agency separate from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) with the task of operating and maintaining the CNS-ATM system.

“I think what is being studied at the moment is that the CNS-ATM system may have a dedicated authority similar to Indonesia. In Indonesia, they have a government authority tasked to manage CNS-ATM facilities, to protect the careers of air traffic controllers and highly expert technicians,” Lim said.

“In Canada and New Zealand, a semi-private group operates the CNS-ATM system and we are also looking at that model. We will submit our recommendation once the study is completed,” he said.

Prior to what happened on New Year’s Day, Lim disclosed that the DOTr had already been assessing the option of turning over the CNS-ATM system to the private sector.

If not, CAAP director general Manuel Antonio Tamayo said he hoped that the government would provide subsidies to the agency to ensure that it has sufficient capital to modernize its air traffic management equipment.

In response, Governance Commission for GOCC commissioner Gideon Mortel said the GCG is ready to support any proposal from CAAP for state funding support to upgrade its CNS-ATM system just to prevent the New Year airspace shutdown from happening again.

“On the matter of subsidy, that will always depend on the need of the agency. It’s the CAAP who are presenting the operational budget,” Mortel said.

“As a GOCC, CAAP has a corporate operating budget. The General Appropriations Act in the legislative department is a different one, so it would depend on them if they will be asking for subsidy,” he said.