On his first day in office Monday, newly installed Department of Transportation and Communications (DoTC) Secretary Jose de Jesus said he would work on measures to assure a “timely and safe landing” at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).

After a briefing from officials of the NAIA and the Clark International Airport Corp. (CIAC) which operates the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA), De Jesus listed what he called as “action items” to ensure reliability and readiness of flight navigational systems at the NAIA which include the installation of a “high navigation system called Instrument Landing System (ILS).

De Jesus said the delivery, installation, and calibration of parts of the ILS will begin today and will be completed by July 30.

After flight testing, the ILS will be operational by first week of August at the latest, he said.

On the other hand, the RNAV (Area Navigation), a satellite-based instrument, has been commissioned, and a number of airlines have begun using it for landing approach.

The new DoTC chief has also instructed the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) to ask all other airlines to adapt to the RNAV by simply encoding data into the aircraft’s avionics.

The “Doppler Very High Frequency Omni Directional Range” or DVOR at the NAIA has been repaired and will soon be in use after calibration, he said.

He is open to the possibility of purchasing a new DVOR but only after a public bidding process.

“I am not inclined to go for a negotiated purchase,” De Jesus said.

Meanwhile, De Jesus asked the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) to “issue a directive requiring carriers to submit contingency plans for unusually long delays and diverted flights.”

These should include provisions for adequate food and water and the deplaning of passengers, he said.

CIAC officials were also instructed by De Jesus to ensure DMIA’s readiness to accept diverted flights from NAIA and other airports, including provisions for fuel, food and water plus other deplaning services.

CIAC officials also said that they will make available bus services to NAIA whenever needed.

Asked about his plans with regard to the upgrade of the country's rating with the United States Federal Aviation Authority (US FAA) in connection with its compliance with international aviation safety standards, De Jesus said: “That takes some doing. We have to undertake corrected measures to be able to do that related mainly to our enforcement of safety measures.”

In a related development, Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Marcelino Libanan on Monday ordered the additional deployment of immigration officers at the DMIA as an alternative landing site for international travelers.

In a weekly command conference, Libanan instructed BI-Airport Operations Division (AOD) chief Ferdinand Sampol to augment the existing manpower at Clark airport after domestic and international airlines diverted their flights to DMIA due to poor visibility and malfunctioning navigational system at the NAIA.