Northwest unimpressed with CUTE proposal

Calling the plan unwarranted and expensive, Northwest Airlines asked the Commonwealth Ports Authority yesterday to shelve a proposal to make the utilization of common use terminal equipment mandatory at the Saipan International Airport.

Richard A. Parsons, Northwest manager for Guam and Saipan, said the CPA board of directors should put the project on hold until passenger traffic requires it.

“CUTE [or common use terminal equipment] from our perspective really only makes sense when you’re looking at avoiding having to build incremental facility. Given that, to the best of my knowledge, there is no incremental demand at the airport today; it does not make sense to go forward with CUTE,” Parsons said.

The common use terminal equipment will allow the staff of any airline to use their respective systems and access their data on any workstation throughout the airport whenever they need to serve passengers.

Currently, each airline has its own check-in counter and terminal gate.

CPA said the CUTE system will prevent congestion at one area while the rest of the facilities are left idle.

Parson, however, maintained that the current system could still satisfy the needs of existing airlines. He noted that there is no need to change the system, given that no additional airlines have arrived or have announced any intent to upgrade their operations in the CNMI.

“It’s not that we are necessarily opposed to CUTE. But with the current situation here, without the need to build incremental facility, implementing the system does make sense from a financial perspective,” Parsons maintained. “With that in mind, I really ask the board to shelve the CUTE plan, at least for the time being, until it is warranted. When that time comes, you will not hear any objection from Northwest.”

Northwest has opposed the proposal from the beginning, mainly because the airline invested significantly on a system of its own barely three years ago.

Parsons admitted this yesterday, saying that Northwest’s equipment “has a number of years left of useful life and we prefer to continue with that.” He added that the airline would prefer to reinvest in that system, rather than go into CUTE, which he said is very expensive.

Parsons also bared information that more airlines, including one that previously supported the proposal, are expected to express opposition to the plan.

Airlines who have expressed support for the project are Continental Airlines, Japan Airlines, and China Southern Air.

Northwest is the only one to have voiced its opposition while Asiana Airlines has not expressed any official support or opposition to the project.

Last month, the CPA board of directors adopted a proposed amendment to airport rules and regulations that would require all carriers operating flights from the Saipan airport to execute a memorandum of agreement binding them to participate in the common use terminal program.

The agreement would also require the airlines to pay its calculated share of the expense for the use of the terminal equipment.

“Failure to execute said memorandum of agreement and comply with its terms and conditions shall be grounds for eviction from the Saipan International Airport and the denial of the right to use airport facilities,” read a portion of the draft amendment.