Megawide Construction Corp. is offering to retain current employees of Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) should it win the massive privatization deal to modernize the country’s main air gateway.
Megawide, a construction company that diversified into infrastructure projects, is pushing back against what it calls “baseless rumors and innuendos” following reports that thousands of existing airport employees will be terminated.
In a statement, the company promised to follow the proper process with the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), the government entity currently operating Naia.
Megawide chair and CEO Edgar Saavedra also pointed to its conduct when it assumed the operations of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) six years ago.
“We actually made an offer to 100 percent of the employees listed by the MCIAA not only to adhere to government regulations but because we saw value in their talent and inherent knowledge of the airport,” Saavedra said in a statement, referring to the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority.
“As the only company to deliver a first-world, multiawarded Philippine airport, MCIA, in the past decade for the Philippines, we are committed to boosting economic activities in the country by supporting the infrastructure buildup of the Philippine government,” he added.
Louie Ferrer, Megawide managing director for transport, said in the same statement the company planned to send offers of employment to organic employees of Naia.
Megawide will “prioritize not just organic employees of MIAA, but also nonorganic and contractual employees of the airport complex.”
“Those who accept the offers will enjoy benefits equal or possibly more than the benefits they were receiving from MIAA. Employees who transfer to Megawide are also protected against redundancies, retrenchments … within a certain period,” Ferrer said.
Megawide is the frontrunner in a privatization bid for Naia after a group of conglomerates, Naia Consortium, withdrew last July.
Megawide’s proposal remains under evaluation. Once accepted, it will undergo a competitive challenge process that will allow rivals to make their own bids.
Megawide wants to transform Naia into a world-class gateway despite the difficult environment in aviation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its offer, valued at roughly $2 billion, promises the elimination of prepandemic congestion in Naia.
The plan calls for the gradual capacity expansion to about 65 million passengers a year. Before the pandemic, Naia was struggling with over 45 million passengers yearly, above its existing design capacity of 31 million a year. INQ