THE GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corp. (GMCAC) urged the Manila International Aviation Services Corp. (MIASCOR) to settle its termination as airport ground handler with the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
GMCAC President Louie Ferrer said they have two important points in terminating the services of MIASCOR by midnight of May 23, 2018.
First, there is no signed contract between MIASCOR and GMCAC, and they have the right to terminate a company if there is a problem. MIASCOR allegedly did not report 18 out of the 26 cases of pilferage all over the country.
Second, GMCAC received direction from MCIAA and DOTr not to renew the contract with MIASCOR, which has been serving the airport for 26 years.
“We are talking of the company, not individual. We also follow the direction of the MCIAA and DOTr. So, MIASCOR should settle the issue with MCIAA and DOTr.”
Ferrer said that they are sympathetic to the 600 MIASCOR affected employees at MCIA. The GMCAC is thinking of supporting the employees like referring them to the other ground handlers at the airport, which have no problem.
In a recent press conference, lawyer Earl Versoza, MIASCOR general manager for Visayas and Mindanao, said that the company handled about 70 percent of operations at MCIA and the rest are being provided by other handlers.
He said MIASCOR went through an audit by he Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and those of other countries that have direct flights to Cebu. Their employees are well-trained and they sent their trainers abroad.
Versoza said MIASCOR is the first ground handler in the Philippines to be accredited by the International Air Transport Association-International Safety and Audit for Ground Operation.
During the Ramadan in August and September every year, MIASCOR certifies workers who are going to serve the airports of Saudi Arabia and Oman where Muslims don’t work as a matter of faith.
He also said that GMCAC issued MIASCOR a letter of award last Jan. 12, 2018 and required them to acquire new equipment or a maximum age of three years. MIASCOR’s new equipment will be in place, after an investment of some P400 million.
Versoza said that during the aftermath of Yolanda in November 2013, MIASCOR personnel facilitated the entry of relief goods at the airport in Mactan. (EOB)