Manila, Philippines – NAIA is still reeling from the shutdown of Philippine air space on New Year’s Day. Inquiries into the matter have found that the software hasn’t been updated since 2020.

Their consultants on the software recommend yearly updates, but they have been ignored. This goes to show how important that little reminder to update your software can be. It’s just the right amount of hassle that we ignore it whenever it comes up, but it’s more important than we think it is.

The lack of an eye to maintenance grounded thousands over the holiday season. We could have prevented this with a little bit of human foresight. Sometimes, we get so caught up in our day-to-day lives we forget to maintain the status that we need to be quo. 

When maintenance is done well, it’s invisible. Thankfully this time, we avoided losing lives due to the professionalism of our air traffic controllers and engineers. We salute you!

Photo by Denniz Futalan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/philippine-airplane-on-runway-6716729/