The closing of our airport is not a singular event. Think about it, all that needed to be rearranged and postponed, the ripple effect of inconveniencing thousands of people, and the millions it costs to compensate, restore, and reverse air-traffic, passenger impact, economic damages to hotels, restaurants, car rentals, all the legal implications of closing the door. It’s a nightmare.
People worked very hard yesterday, and will slave today, to undo the damage from yesterday.
And my first reaction was incredulity. Total disbelief.
No, this is not possible in Aruba. We are not a third-world country.
Apparently, we are.
Press release: “Aruba Airport Prioritizes Passenger Safety Amidst Technical Issue Resulting in Temporary Closure.
Aruba Airport acknowledges the significant impact caused by the airport closure today. Due to a technical issue, 39 flights were affected, disrupting the travel plans of approximately 4,000 passengers.
Overnight, a critical technical problem occurred within our air conditioning system due to a rupture in the primary chiller pipe. This malfunction resulted in rapidly rising temperatures within the terminal, creating an environment that could potentially compromise the health and safety of everyone present.
After careful consideration, we made the difficult decision to temporarily halt all airport operations and close the airport.”
I attended the big party, the delivery of project phase 1A, and the farewell to diligent AAA CEO, Joost Meijs, who was here for almost five years.
I don’t think he wanted to leave. He was ready to stay on.
But as you know, Reina Beatrix Airport is always within sight of our political echelon, managed by Royal Schipol Group, a Dutch airport management company, a world class expert on airports, it always seems to irk our political players. They would like to see the airport managed locally, with local talent, under local loyalties.
The struggle over the control of the airport has been going on for years, and once Meijs was out of the way, just recently, the airport reported that it appointed an Interim Management Team “amid strategic realignment.” The Interim Management Team was to guide the company through that “strategic alignment,” effective August 1, 2024.
Ironically the press release stated that this move reflects the commitment of AAA and Royal Schiphol Group (RSG) to maintain operational stability and pursuing long-term growth.
Reina Beatrix is now under the management of three super-qualified people, qualified in their own area, finance, operations, business, but here they were fighting wet floors and a pipe burst, clearly not their expertise. Yesterday must have been the worst day of their career.
Would a Royal Schiphol Group man, have managed it better?
We should ask that question.
We should also ask, don’t you have contingency plans?
That air-conditioning system, I understand, was sluggish from the day before, and I heard that a few local companies offered to help.
Which brings me back to Thursday’s column, in which I said: As Aruba’s semi-governmental companies face the future, Serlimar, WEB, ELMAR, the upcoming new AWSS, Aruba Wastewater Sustainable Solutions, ARUBUS, Post-Aruba, RDA, all these state-owned companies, are no sure thing, they represent risks, and threats to our economy, which must be managed well and mitigated.
I should have added AAA to that list, but I thought it was failproof under the RSG flag. I was wrong.
The takeaway: Keep politics away from crucial industries.
