The employees of CPA, an autonomous government agency that generates revenue through landing and passengers fees, remain on a full biweekly load of 80 hours per payroll.
CPA Executive Director Edward Deleon Guerrero said the agency currently employs 198 FTEs spread over all three airports and seaports on Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
The functions of those who were let go were passed on to private firms like cleaning and keeping up the ground maintenance of all airports and seaports.
“We don’t receive any money from the general fund. We run CPA from the fees that we charged — the landing fee and the passenger fee — and the lease that we get here. We run it like a business,” said Deleon Guerrero.
In April 2010, CPA employees were placed on a 72-hour biweekly payroll.
The rule was implemented for six months.
Deleon Guerrero said he studied the personnel flow and finally decided to let go of the other FTEs to keep their personnel expenses at the minimum without sacrificing vital functions.
“I put CPA for six months on 72 hours to give me an opportunity to look at our personnel and do some corrective actions. I looked at our financial situation and brought it back to 80 hours when I saw that we could do it,” he told the Variety.
Further, Deleon Guerrero said he asked each division to come up with their budgeting and expenditure expenses every year to make sure that they only spend within their means.
“Now, every division runs their department. I don’t micro-manage. I make them do their budgeting and expenditure. Believe me, we are watching our expenditures every day….We’re talking about three airports and three seaports,” he said.
Unlike other autonomous agencies, CPA does not get local subsidy.
Its projects are funded by the federal government, particularly the Federal Aviation Administration.
Apart from its annual personnel and operations expenses, CPA must also allocate each year payments for its multi-million-dollar bonds that were floated several years ago to partly finance different airport and seaport projects.
Deleon Guerrero said it looks like CPA will keep the 80 hours despite its financial challenges unless the current number of flights is further reduced.
“In this 2011, if there’s no drastic change in the way travelers come to Saipan, I think we’ll be okay,” he said.
