These charges are recognised by ICAO and accepted as an operational cost, so our airlines should brace up to it.
When the honourable minister granted the airlines a three year grace to pay back public funds collected and spent by the airlines, while also lampooning the agency heads for daring to put their foot down .it was glaring, the government had surreptitiously encouraged inefficiency on the platter of blackmail which naturally has come back to hunt them.
The airlines have consistently refused to meet their obligation to agencies; they also would turn around to accuse them of providing sub-standard services.
The airlines should negotiate the charges with NAMA and probably ask for some rebate on routes with low patronage or frequency rather than refusing to pay. It is unfair not to pay those charges considering NAMA is a self funding organization that must be committed to safety in the air and on ground through maintenance of its equipment and motivation of his sensitive workers.
It is also an aeronautical blackmail to claim NAMA is on strike when they are not or to include NAMA charge on your ticket when the business plan or operational budgets should have taken cognizance of navigational charges whether in arrears or in the new format.
The airlines should realise that the pay –as-you –go policy is fallout of their accumulated debts and the irritating penchant of circumventing the system through blackmail and executive intervention.
They should also reorganize themselves, starting with the AON, the umbrella body of the airlines, that body is an embarrassment to the industry with key officers coming on air with different positions just like they did sometime ago when they wanted bailout, which was championed by stakeholders.
Finally, our airlines should reverse the present culture of dodging and blackmailing to coughing out outstanding debts, it’s a prerequisite for running efficient carriers that needs the support of the traveling public, stakeholders and the government.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
RE:House Public Hearing on Multiple Entry
The public hearing is long overdue; I really look forward to it, though with trepidation.
Will the outcome change the present situation considering past public hearing whose outcome has changed nothing. Also, most of the agreements are government to government which usually have a long gestation period and require some diplomatic hurdles before it can be reversed.
Then you have the disunited cartel, called AON, who may come up with different positions just like they did the last time, when they purposely omitted the fly Nigeria act because they felt Mr. A’s airline will be the only beneficiary.
If you look at the checking in counters at the international gateways of Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Kano our carriers are tucked at the corners or completely absent compared to the foreign carriers who have taken vantage positions in our own country.
Take a cursory look at cities such as Jo’burg, Nairobi, Addis-Ababa, Cairo, Tripoli you can easily feel the ambience of the home carriers, why are we different?
We need to seat down have a re-think because the BASA fund that is exciting us and surely tripping the head of aviation agencies is pittance when compared with the benefits that will accrue to the country if we empower our carriers and our manpower
Will the outcome change the present situation considering past public hearing whose outcome has changed nothing. Also, most of the agreements are government to government which usually have a long gestation period and require some diplomatic hurdles before it can be reversed.
Then you have the disunited cartel, called AON, who may come up with different positions just like they did the last time, when they purposely omitted the fly Nigeria act because they felt Mr. A’s airline will be the only beneficiary.
If you look at the checking in counters at the international gateways of Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt and Kano our carriers are tucked at the corners or completely absent compared to the foreign carriers who have taken vantage positions in our own country.
Take a cursory look at cities such as Jo’burg, Nairobi, Addis-Ababa, Cairo, Tripoli you can easily feel the ambience of the home carriers, why are we different?
We need to seat down have a re-think because the BASA fund that is exciting us and surely tripping the head of aviation agencies is pittance when compared with the benefits that will accrue to the country if we empower our carriers and our manpower
Sunday, September 5, 2010
legislating to provide consumer protection
I don’t think it’s an airline problem alone; we all need to agitate and participate in pushing our carriers to the zenith of customer services.
Nigerian airlines, like their counterparts world over are busy creating all sort of fares and charges to augment the low fares being provided, in doing this, services that come naturally to passengers in the past are now being paid for, passengers are now restricted to fight delayed departure, denied boarding, hidden charges, lost baggage and probably delinquent safety processes.
In addressing these issues, senate and house committees on aviation need to pass the necessary legislation to protect passengers which will now be enforced by the other arms of government.
To aid the committees the airlines, passengers, stakeholders, regulatory authorities and sister agencies must be able to provide information and necessary statistics to aid the passage of such bills.
It has been practiced successfully in other climes to the benefit of all users and service providers. we can replicate same here.
Nigerian airlines, like their counterparts world over are busy creating all sort of fares and charges to augment the low fares being provided, in doing this, services that come naturally to passengers in the past are now being paid for, passengers are now restricted to fight delayed departure, denied boarding, hidden charges, lost baggage and probably delinquent safety processes.
In addressing these issues, senate and house committees on aviation need to pass the necessary legislation to protect passengers which will now be enforced by the other arms of government.
To aid the committees the airlines, passengers, stakeholders, regulatory authorities and sister agencies must be able to provide information and necessary statistics to aid the passage of such bills.
It has been practiced successfully in other climes to the benefit of all users and service providers. we can replicate same here.
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