I had a Dream – Mr. President

I got feedback on different channels belonging to my today’s  article about Cagayan de Oro’s new airport. 

And then suddenly I had an idea:
Why not swap Laguindingan and Lumbia?

Passengers would be happy, pilots would be grateful and the colonels would open a bottle of champagne. 

The history:
I am not sure if it had been the current president’s mom, Corazon C. Aquino, or her successor Fidel V. Ramos who had the idea to set up the Laguindingan project. Back in 1992 a lot of things got a bit turbulent in the Philippines. 
Anyway, one of the two started 21 years ago not only the new Cagayan de Oro airport project but also the Panglao airport project.

Today many people associate these projects with  Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But this is only because GMA mastered personal marketing by installing roadside signs everywhere with her photo wearing a protective worker helmet. GMA did absolutely nothing in regard of these two airport projects. But I still like her photo with the helmet.

But let’s get back to the present.
Laguindingan is an absolute mess! This is not only my opinion, but also the opinion of high ranking airline officers, pilots and passengers. The only grinning guys are the taxi drivers.

I therefore propose to swap Laguindingan and Lumbia.
The air-force gets a neat new airport with aircon offices, free access to the sea and a lot of space for development.
On the other side the airlines could recover their well known offices, pilots would have again usable navigation aids and passengers would even have more usable seats in the old airport. But at least flights would again fly to their destination at nearly any time.

And last but not least the airline managers and stakeholders would be happy. A diverted flight from Manila to Cagayan and then back costs a big lot of money, needs suddenly more reserve crew and makes passengers angry and frustrated.

Therefore: Let’s swap Laguindingan and Lumbia