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| Michael Achimugu, |
I watched the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Michael Achimugu, on Channels Television recently, where he spoke on a wide range of issues concerning the functions of the NCAA and his office.
I took particular interest in two points he made.
First, he advised airlines whose aircraft develop technical problems and are taken out of service to reduce their schedules until the Aircraft on Ground (AOG) is recovered, certified and returned to service. Achimugu said the airlines should provide “a buffer” to cater for the AOG. He has repeated this same position following complaints by a certain lawyer over delayed flights.
Achimugu also spoke about his role in calming down restive passengers whenever flights are delayed or cancelled. That’s worthy of note.
Let us deal with the first point.
Aircraft acquisition comes with a heavy financial burden. No airline deliberately keeps aircraft parked somewhere as a buffer in case another aircraft suddenly develops a technical problem. Airline business is not like motor transportation, where another bus can simply be deployed to pick up stranded passengers.
An aircraft costs millions of dollars. Keeping one idle means keeping huge capital idle while the airline continues to meet its financial obligations. So, if airlines are required to maintain excess aircraft as buffers against unforeseen technical problems, they will lose money and may eventually struggle to meet their obligations. Besides, no airline knows when such problems will occur.
What Achimugu and the NCAA should therefore be advocating is an improvement in the aviation environment that will minimise these disruptions.
Aircraft are designed for intensive operations, between 18 and 20 hours a day. In Nigeria, they fly between 6 and 8 hours. Nigerian airlines are unable to fully utilise their aircraft because of several operational and infrastructural limitations. Restricted airport operating hours, weather, bird strikes and inadequate landing infrastructure all contribute to lost flying hours.
Every hour an aircraft sits on the ground when it could be flying is lost revenue for the airline and lost capacity for passengers.
Let me acknowledge that the Tinubu administration, through the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, SAN, has been doing a commendable job in making the aviation industry more efficient and modernised. But there’s more work to be done. This is where the NCAA should focus.
On the second point, I understand that passengers have rights and that the NCAA has a responsibility to protect them. But should the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection be rushing to airports to calm angry passengers every time there is a disruption?
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and airport security have responsibilities for maintaining order at airports. The NCAA is a regulatory agency. Its responsibility is to regulate the industry, set and enforce standards, inspect and monitor operators, and take action when airlines or other aviation service providers breach the rules.
So, yes, the NCAA should protect passengers when their rights are affected. But its intervention should not end with calming angry passengers after something has gone wrong.
If bird strikes are contributing to disruptions, for instance, the question should be: what is being done to reduce them? If airport operating hours, navigational facilities, landing infrastructure or air traffic management are contributing to delays, those problems should be identified and addressed by the appropriate agencies and service providers, with the NCAA exercising the regulatory oversight expected of it.
Most importantly, if the NCAA publishes delay and cancellation statistics, it should also tell Nigerians why the flights were delayed or cancelled. For every delayed or cancelled flight, the airline loses revenue and reputation. Therefore, no airline will intentionally delay or cancel flights. There are also both internal and external factors contributing to such incidents.
How many were caused by technical problems? How many by bad weather, bird strikes, airport restrictions, inadequate infrastructure or air traffic management? And how many were actually within the airlines’ control?
That is the context Nigerians need.
The NCAA should not merely count the delays and cancellations and leave the public to assume that the airlines are responsible for all of them.
If an airline has a technical problem, let the NCAA enforce the safety rules and ensure that the aircraft does not fly until it is properly certified. And where the airline is responsible for a disruption, let the NCAA say so and enforce the rules.
But where the cause lies outside the airline, Nigerians should be told that too.
Fix the environment. Reduce the causes of disruption. Improve the infrastructure. Enforce the rules. Protect the passengers. And let the airlines fly.
That is how we solve the problem, and not by merely counting its symptoms.
(c) Fred Chukwuelobe, fnipr
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