ALARMISTS OR WHISTLE BLOWERS

The industry has always encouraged and still encourages whistle blowing to bolster safety, good governance, improved service level and competition in that order of priority. The regulatory authority has encouraged this by providing a non-punitive reporting platform which is still operating till date. Alas, I was taken aback when some DANA staff behind the curtains appeared on national TV and on the pages of newspapers to allege that aircrafts in their fleet were not safe. Thereafter, Air Nigeria’s former Director of Finance opened his own can of worms which bordered on tax remissions and certification. To attract our attention, his team quickly keyed into the depressed mood of Nigerians by declaring Air Nigeria’s aircraft and operation as not being safe by writing to lessors, agencies etc. These allegations were hyped and timed to instill fear in the flying public when the country was and is still mourning with great pains. Air Nigeria and Dana management need to review their Industrial Relations policies that make staff turn against their organisation with unbelievable venom and hatred. In my article, “Virgin Nigeria and the New Owner” written two years ago, I expressed my reservation at the new team based on their performance at EAS Airline, while the jury is still open, the alleged fraudulent method of acquiring the airline are too weighty to be discarded. On tax evasion I would openly say almost all Nigeria airlines are guilty of tax evasion and remittance, and have always manipulated the government and relevant agencies by deliberately refusing to pay for services or remitting taxes collected on their behalf. Therefore Air Nigeria must remit to government whatever is due to them, but should not be singled out; fairness must be seen to be applied. We all look forward to the day we will get over the owner –manager and money-miss-road syndrome bedeviling our airlines and sincerely pray for aviation minded investors such as Tony Fernandes, Ryan O’Leary or a Sir Haji-Loannou, who is bringing Fast Jet - a new low cost carrier that will change our will to fly in the sub-region. Sadly, he has decided to anchor the carrier in Accra, not Abuja or Lagos despite our giant of Africa status. It is not late; we can still lobby his team to have a change of heart if we actually want aviation to contribute the projected quota to the GDP. Air Nigeria should not go down. We must as a country do everything to save and pull it out of this crisis while also encouraging more investors. It is our only IATA member carrier and the first airline in West&Central Africa to hold the cherished IATA operational safety audit certification. We need to encourage competition because it is healthy for the airlines and more beneficial to the flying public. When Air Nigeria announced their intention to start the London route, fares in the economy class that had been unfavourably high began to drop without any government ultimatum or legislative public hearing. Also the Lagos - Banjul route which Air Nigeria offered for below N70, 000 before the multiple industrial crises will now cost Nigerians N170, 000 on the alternate Nigerian airline. The airline has capitalised on their absence, replicating their excessive high fares on the Lagos-London route when they encouraged price discrimination by benchmarking the British carriers. I know the NCAA is presently being heckled due to the mood of the nation, but they must statutorily also look at the fare exploitation by our carriers. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation in India, an equivalent of our NCAA, recently reprimanded the airlines in that country for charging phenomenal fares when aviation fuel price only increased by 16% in the past year. The airlines thereafter jointly agreed to cut fares between 5 -20% based on route and airport analysis. The Government should please understand that viable and strong carriers will only evolve from sound policies, protection and regulated stimuli, not by opening our skies. Air France operates into Port Harcourt, Lagos and recently Abuja all in one country in West Africa, while the same airline signed a code-share agreement with non starters like Air Burkina and Air Mali to take their passengers from Ouagadougou and Bamako respectively to cities within the sub-region. These airlines will be using MD 87 aircraft, a relation of DANA’s MD 83, yet AERO’s unblemished safety record, Arik’s young fleet and Air Nigeria IOASA certification & IATA membership were not enough for the government to use to negotiate with Air France while signing this and other agreements. The foreign carriers are asking for more frequencies, designation and increasing gauge into Nigeria when Virgin Atlantic is withdrawing from the tourist filled Nairobi route, because Kenya Airways is giving them a run for their money. The aviation bailout fund has achieved its aim - refinance and save the banks. What next?