MR SPEAKER: BREACHING SAFETY PROCEDURE

The victory of having a youthful speaker that will liberate and be a model for other youths in different sectors of the economy seems pyrrhic, considering the recent actions and inactions of the Honourable speaker in the recent past. I will digress from his political upheavals and face issues related to the aviation sector.

Mr. Speaker refused a pat-down by British Airways security personnel at the MMIA while proceeding to board their aircraft on his way to London. His refusal necessitated him being denied boarding and the media circus thereof. The speaker not unsurprisingly proceeded almost immediately to fly a British owned carrier- Virgin Atlantic.

To affirm his anti–safety principle, his spokesperson said he was not searched at the other airports in London, without confirming if he passed through a scanning machine which usually overrides a pat-down.

This happened at a time the country was on the verge of getting the elusive Category 1 status that is needed for our carriers to fly to America with Nigerian registered aircraft. We also need to take into consideration the fact that Nigeria is also barely off the terror watch list which was an albatross to Nigerians traveling outside the country.

We got on the terror watch list, not because of the failed under wear bomber alone but due to other reasons such as our lack of cooperation with other security agencies in sharing information, shaky presidential leadership at that period, inadequate security gadgets at the airports and the absence of an enabling law to fight international terrorism.

If Mr. Speaker has to resist anything at all, it should start with the present deplorable state of our airports, the use of public funds to fly foreign carriers on routes that Nigerian carriers operate the delayed certification of Nigeria-by the US FAA, with our generous acceptance of the open skies and Air Marshal Agreements. He should go further by also resisting the delayed passage of Anti- terror bill presently gathering dust in a chamber headed by him.

Mr. Speaker can also resist Lufthansa by ensuring that all outstanding fees from the commercial agreements owed the country, which were swapped for a nonsensical manpower and technical development of Abuja airport by his acolyte and former aviation minister are paid promptly. When a foreign carrier has three entry points to your own country and you cannot reciprocate, you will only aid in developing selfish hub outside Frankfurt.

Furthermore, he should resist carriers under the guise of wet lease contract, with a proliferation of non-Nigerian registered business jets who are operating for hire and reward services within the territory of Nigeria, while encroaching on the legitimate market for domestic operators. In a nutshell, participants in the domestic air charter market that are non-Nigerian registered airlines should be prohibited and enforced.

Mr. Speaker can resist executive recklessness by ensuring that our leaders stop driving onto the tarmac, while also using self recognition to bully FAAN security and other safety related staff from conducting the mandatory security checks. For those who can still remember, a Virgin Nigeria cabin crew almost lost her job due to pressure from the former aviation minister on the airline’s management, who in turn stood resolutely by safety procedure. Her sin was professionally refusing have an oversized cake being ferried on board the regional jet that was used to replace the 737 aircraft.

Mr. Speaker should also resist the shameful idling of expensive scanning machines bought for the international gateways at the height of failed bombing, which have not been utilized. Had they been deployed, Mr. Speaker may have opted for the scanner, rather than have a pat-down. He should ask questions like why are the scanners donated by the US government working and the ones bought with tax payers’ funds not working six months after delivery. In other climes, the scanners are already working.

Mr. Speaker should also resist the non-implementation of some directives of House committee on Aviation and the homily of the executive arm after the committee has exposed the Abuja run-away project.


The country now has the coveted category 1 status, we need to sustain and retain it. While we expect our leadership to support the regulatory authorities in achieving this objective, they must also be seen to be obeying and abiding by all civil aviation safety procedures within and outside the country, to avoid a recurrence of the last embarrassing situation.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, when British Airways denied you boarding, why did you board another British carrier, when Arik, the only Nigerian carrier on that route was available. Considering the Nigerian factor, the MD and other top management would have walked you to the foot of the aircraft with all the paraphernalia you deserve, woe betide the Arik security staff that will search you when his ogas are with you.

Your first class ticket and other tickets for your entourage on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, purchased with tax payers’ fund, would have paid the salaries of some Arik Air staff if you had shown some patriotism by flying a Nigerian carrier. Please support a consolidation process for our carriers, thereafter the Fly Nigeria Act.

AERO AND THE LOW FARES

Aero has once again shown its pioneering role in the unbundling of domestic fares, encouraging cashless transaction, which is a fade with low cost carriers world over and also being practiced by legacy carriers on selected routes and class.

The fuel charge introduced is a reflection of fuel situation in Nigeria and a brilliant attempt to educate the public and the government in particular the impact of jet fuel on our carriers bottom-line, though it’s not a fixed charge. It usually swings with the prevailing fuel price.

I hopefully look forward to a last-minute ticket sales promo and process on their web, which will increase traffic to the site and will most importantly fill no-shows considering the seats become perishable when the flights departs.

It will be interesting to see our airlines on the social marketing sites of twitter, face book e.t.c. it’s a more organic process and our airlines must realized the potential for free marketing these sites provide.

The management of Aero should compliment the commendable unbundling process, by working assiduously to drive down their cost of operation while tinkering with the idea of separating its schedule services from it other chartering, servicing and maintenance services to enhance efficiency, improve profitability with cost reduction.

The NCAA’s stoppage of the fuel surcharge at that time was regrettable and should be reviewed forthwith because foreign airlines operating into Nigeria have been collecting fuel and other charges as ancillary revenue over the years to cushion the biting effects of fuel price, meltdown e.t.c, so why are they stopping Aero? NCAA can as well stop all the promotional fares and revert to the out-dated collusion and regimented flat fare regime as witnessed in the time past.

Aero management should also, learn to give the public some notification period rather than adopt a swift implementation of new fares, charges and policies, which is the norm world over

We need to sustain the noticeable increase in domestic travel across all airports and in doing this we should give the airlines some freedom in commercial decisions without interference.

Aero’s gradual transformation to a low fare carrier is encouraging and should improve I.T facilities that naturally act as driving force for this model. Also they should have it at back of their mind that, in the airspace there are openings for those who look hard, using the right aircraft and delivering the right product.