AVIATION INVESTMENT THROUGH POLICY: GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE

As I take a second look at the topic assigned, I found it amusing that l am being invited to speak from government perspective! It looks like an awkward assignment. However, as often happens there are some good in seemingly unusual circumstances. The Ministry of Aviation is charged with the overall responsibility of managing aviation in the country. It is empowered by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act of 1964 to make policy and regulate air navigation, air transportation, airport development and maintenance, provision of aviation infrastructural service and other needs of the aviation industry. the Civil Aviation Act 2006 part 1, Section 1 also states that; “The Minister shall be responsible for the formulation of policies and strategies for the promotion and encouragement of civil aviation in Nigeria and the fostering of sound economic policies that assure the provision of efficient and safe services by air carriers and other aviation and allied service providers, as well as greater access to air transport in a sustainable manner and to assist with ensuring that Nigeria’s obligations under international agreement are implemented and adhered to.” This event is as an opportunity to indicate the direction our policy should take for meaningful aviation investment in the Nigeria. In doing this it is we must kick start it with these mantra: Analysing past policy documents, identify the positive impact they have made and highlight their deficiencies. Set a timeline for review of the document Consult and engage Stakeholders across board Will power to implement by the initiator and those for whom it is made It is also pertinent to highlight parts of the existing legal framework that supports the regulation of the aviation sector in Nigeria as a concretization of government policy at a given period of time. By so doing, such laws especially the Nigeria Civil Aviation Act 2006 would require some tinkering to accommodate policy pronouncements, developments in the industry as well as modification of regulations in accordance with current global best practices. Policy formulation and implementation does not follow the orthodox perspective as a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. It is a statement of intent and it is implemented as a procedure or protocol.In other words, it is the general principles by which a government is guided in its management of public affairs, or the legislature in its measures. When applied to a law, ordinance, or rule of law, it denotes the general purpose or tendency considered as the policy direction. Policy in Nigeria is often the outcome of myopic protection of class interest, ego and uninformed perception of role. Thus, the aviation sector experienced several policies in congruencies, hurtful reversals and unpredictability which have been quite harmful to the development of the sector. Certainty of procedure and activities are the hallmark of aviation. Unpredictability just as applicable to the weather is an undesirable index to the aviator. Perhaps the latest of Nigerian policy documents was the Nigerian National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP) 2013. Profound critique of this document has been variously made by notable names in the industry. It suffices to say that Nigeria needs a comprehensive general aviation policy that defines the scope of oversight functions of regulatory agencies and sets out guidelines for private sector participation. Efforts should be made to ensure that Ministerial intervention in safety and regulatory activities are reduced to the barest minimum if not out rightly forbidden. Any attempt at formulating or developing an aviation policy as would encourage investment must address the following: Funding of Safety and Security Inadequate infrastructure certification Access to Maintenance Services Rising Costs of Aviation Fuel Taxation The effects of the foreign exchange crisis Safety Regulation Labour Issues Adherence to Terms Conditions of Agreements Retention of “Ease of Doing Business” Implementation of The Economic Regulations Guidelines Respect of Judicial proclamations In order to address the various challenges, the Aviation industry needs an effective policy that will harness its potential and attract more foreign investment, as well as address safety and national security concerns as focal point. Nigeria has the largest economy in Africa, with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $415.08 billion according to the International Monetary Fund's world economic outlook for October 2016. Notwithstanding the contraction in the economy over the past two years, Nigeria remains a major African hub for business and commercial activities. Therefore, the required policy direction at this point in time is such policy as would ensure: Development of new Airports through PPP Deliberate establishment of Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facilities with 0% Customs tariffs including VAT, 5-year tax holiday MRO related transactions, simplified Ports clearance, expeditious grant of land on generous terms Aggressive review of Bilateral Traffic Rights Regional Connectivity Scheme- Tax incentives for all airlines operating on hitherto underserved routes Upward review of Foreign Equity or participation to accommodate 100% ownership to boost FDI. Chile and Australia modified their laws to accommodate 100% ownership of airline and allied business Well articulated but consistent air transport policy is very critical to Nigeria’s long – term development. However, the air transport policy is supposed to be formulated to form part of a transport chain. Aviation had hitherto been treated like a stand-alone rather than be part of a seamless all inclusive transport “Chain”. ALL NATIONS HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ENSURING THE SAFE AND ORDERLY DEVELOPMENT OF AVIATION

ILS: WE ALL FAILED AND EMBARRASSED THE NATION

The industry went into wild jubilation when the government announced in the last quarter of last year that it had purchased a new set of Instrument Landing System (ILS) CAT 3 to be precise for Lagos and Abuja airports respectively which was installed while the functional CAT 2 ILS in these airports were moved to other airports in the country. The icing on the cake was another announcement that informed of the arrival of a new calibration aircraft for the country to be used in calibrating all critical landing instruments installed in all our airports. We rejoiced because the CAT 3 is an improved version of CAT 2 system which can enable aircraft land at almost zero visibility while the new aircraft will aid safety by calibrating the necessary instrument in all our airports in a timely and procedural manner as approved by the regulator and manufacturers and most importantly reduce the huge cost of calibration that we usually concession to ASECNA which is sometimes delayed due to unavailability of funds. Alas our joy was pyrrhic with the embarrassing situation we found ourselves in recently with international flights being cancelled, diverted or returning to base from mid air. These airlines chose Accra as an alternate and not Abuja. At a stage, Accra could not handle the surge anymore then they diverted as far as Dakar in Senegal. Why Accra and not Abuja? The industry just woke up after 50 years to realise that the alternate airport to Lagos on the chart for foreign carriers is Accra and not Abuja. This has remained unchanged hence the request by Qatar Air to the Ministry to seek approval to land in Abuja. Yet the Ministry gloated on this approval. The silence from the industry in all of these was disappointing. I can remember NATCA the umbrella body of the air traffic controllers voicing out in the beginning but were countered by NAMA management. Thereafter it was the conspiracy of silence from all industry players. The restive unions that will brutalise concessionaires and airlines owing their organizations went mute, the media did not make it a shouting headline, neither did the agencies or numerous experts and professionals, rather we chose to murmur or use the social media to discuss or defend, heaping all the problems on weather and not on us who allowed the ministry and its agencies to simply herd us into this imbroglio. Surprisingly foreign airlines that lost a lot of revenue to the diversion estimated at around $6,000,000.00 also failed to speak up and it would appear, they chose the back end communication channel to save aviation officials and not the industry, themselves or their disappointed passengers. The juicy extra frequency, gauge and points of entries cannot be toyed with hence the blank cheque given to passengers to spend and seal lips thereafter. I hope it works… The passengers who were mainly Nigerians were kept in Accra and Dakar respectively, some were airlifted back to Nigeria, some returned to the country of departure while others found their way by road to Nigeria after being stranded for some days. Some of these passengers fell ill; some were attacked by robbers on arrival in Lagos at the dead of night while another passenger died in the hotel while waiting to board his flight. This is in addition to distortions to flight schedules and missing connecting flights and luggage. What was the industry’s response to the imbroglio? The ministry of Aviation sent out belated concurrent press releases apologising to passengers, heaping the problem on inclement weather and accusing the foreign airlines of deliberately going to Accra as a choice and not Abuja when the chart given says Accra is the alternate. The ministry of Information simply picked the template of the Ministry of Aviation by changing one or two sentences in words while connoting the same reasons as their counterpart. Cherry picked government officials and other professionals also towed the same line in almost all media outlets. The inclement weather being parroted now is harmattan haze which can make visibility poor, that is a fact but landing in poor visibility is not usually an issue, if the airport has the right equipment such as the CAT 3 instrument landing systems (ILS), pilots can secure enough assistance to land safely, even when the visibility is next to nothing, simply put, our instrument failed when it was most needed. It is gratifying to see the Honourable Minister of Aviation accept that some components in the brand new ILS CAT 3 instrument failed hence the problem of inaccurate reading and its inability to function properly after installation, which necessitated the hurried recall of ASECNA which later culminated in the use of the recently purchased calibration aircraft to recalibrate the instrument which happily has been corrected and NOTAM issued. The solution to putting an end to diversion of aircraft outside Nigeria during inclement weather that often leads to poor visibility is simply making provision for functional CAT - III Instrument Landing System (ILS-CAT III) in all our 4 International Airports, presently located in Lagos, Abuja, P/H and Kano. Anything short of that cannot change the situation whenever we have bad weather. The chart given to airlines some decades ago with Accra as alternate should be reviewed to Abuja and Port-Harcourt. The poor oversight on our part to rectify the book was very profitable to the Ghanaians while also causing the foreign airlines and passenger losses and pains. The NCAA should ensure that scheduled and mandatory maintenance and calibrations of the navigational and landing aids in all airports are timely and sustained in line with regulations, considering the last Max Air incident at Minna airport which should have served as a wakeup call. The pilot attributed the incident to the erratic performance of the ILS instrument. The new calibration aircraft bought for the country should be handed over to NAMA and commercialised to recoup funds expended and should also generate revenue for the country while the ghost of the older aircraft flown by late Capt Agbeyegbe should be properly rested with appropriate documentation stating current situation. The Ministry should please hands off from procurements of equipments, announcements of projects or managing of the new calibration aircraft. I could hear the murmuring at the chambers when the MD NAMA was asked the cost of CAT3 installion and he simply said it was only the Minister that can answer that question. Rather the Ministry should focus on policy direction, guiding air navigation, air transport, airport development and provision of infrastructure which is clearly stated in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Act of 1964 and 2006 respectively. We also implore FAAN to urgently fix the runway light on 18L to make it available for night operations while also extending the operating hours of some of our airports. It’s a little wonder that Ilorin Airport which serves as alternate to Lagos shuts down at 1800 hrs while it runs for 24hrs only during Hajj. I align with the proposal for FAAN to handover the runway lighting systems to NAMA let us drop the ego and percevied interest here for Safety and Efficiency. Finally as we tip-toe towards the formation of a strong airline with the acronym “National Carrier” I can only plead with the government to make it a stratum while the strata should be a comprehensive National Civil Aviation Policy covering connectivity, bilateral, fiscal support, maintenance, infrastructure and guided deregulation buried in effective implementation of economic regulations. The Federal Government failed and embarrassed Nigerians in cohort with stakeholders not the inclement weather. Olumide. O. OHUNAYO ●

CONTRIBUTIONS OF A NATIONAL CARRIER TO THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

Why Do Countries Set Up National Carriers? A. National carriers are usually set up at the teething stage of a country’s civil aviation. B. They are sometimes brought back to life, though at great cost and risk to absorb employees of failed major domestic carriers. It provides employment and assuages nerves of restive unions. C. They may also be set up to avert monopolistic or weak tendencies of surviving airlines by providing additional fleet, capacity, and frequency in support of other registered carriers or investors. Generally they are regularly propped up with numerous protectionist policies, such as financial aid, route exclusivity, privatisation, technical partnership etc. When these policies fail they are sold, liquidated or shredded. National Carrier or National Aviation Policy? A national carrier is limiting as it focuses on the airline and its operations, but a National Aviation Policy with the national carrier embedded focuses on socio-economic development. The policy will strengthen the industry and our airlines, the policy should include reduction of taxes, modernisation of ATC, regulatory burden reforms, stabilisaton of aviation fuel prices, provision of market for the flag carriers through a Fly Nigeria Act, while also ensuring our carriers consolidate and compete globally. Who Initiates The National Aviation Policy? The Ministry of Aviation is charged with the overall responsibility of managing aviation policy in the country. It is empowered by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act of 1964 to make policies guiding air navigation, air transportation, airport development and maintenance, and provide aviation infrastructural service and other needs of the aviation industry. The Civil Aviation Act 2006 part 1, Section 1 also states that; “The Minister shall be responsible for the formulation of policies and strategies for the promotion and encouragement of civil aviation in Nigeria and the fostering of sound economic policies that assure the provision of efficient and safe services by air carriers and other aviation and allied service providers, as well as greater access to air transport in a sustainable manner and to assist with ensuring that Nigeria’s obligations under international agreement are implemented and adhered to.” This event is as an opportunity to indicate the direction our policy should take for meaningful aviation investment in Nigeria. In doing this it is we must kick start it with these mantra: ⮚ Analysing past policy documents, identify the positive impact they have made and highlight their deficiencies. ⮚ Set a timeline for review of the document ⮚ Consult and engage Stakeholders across board ⮚ Will power to implement by the initiator and those for whom it is made ⮚ NATIONAL INTEREST ABOVE SELF INTEREST Any attempt at formulating or developing an aviation policy as would encourage investment must address the following: ⮚ Funding of Safety and Security ⮚ Inadequate infrastructure certification ⮚ Access to Maintenance Services ⮚ Rising Costs of Aviation Fuel ⮚ Taxation ⮚ The effects of the foreign exchange crisis ⮚ Safety Regulation ⮚ Labour Issues ⮚ Adherence to Terms Conditions of Agreements ⮚ Retention of “Ease of Doing Business” ⮚ Implementation of The Economic Regulations Guidelines ⮚ Respect of Judicial proclamations Therefore, the required policy direction at this point in time should support the national airlines and improve the socio economic conditions: ⮚ Development of Airports (old and new) through PPP ⮚ Deliberate establishment of Maintenance Repair and Overhaul facilities with 0% Customs tariff including VAT, 5-year tax holiday MRO related transactions, simplified Ports clearance, expeditious grant of land on generous terms ⮚ Aggressive review of Bilateral Traffic Rights ⮚ Regional Connectivity Scheme- Tax incentives for all airlines operating on hitherto underserved routes ⮚ Upward review of Foreign Equity or Participation A well articulated and consistent Air Transport Policy is very critical to Nigeria’s long term development. However, it should be formulated to form part of a transport chain. Aviation has always been treated as a stand-alone; instead of as part of a seamless all inclusive transport chain. ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY OF NIGERIA (AMCON) AND MINISTRY OF AVIATION The obvious disagreement between AMCON and the Ministry is not helpful and will obviously derail the national carrier project in the long run. There is a misconception that AMCON is an interloper. It is a government organisation that was applauded when it stepped in to halt the financial bleeding in ARIK and AERO. AMCON’s priority is to save depositors' funds, the financial system and legitimate borrowers, whose business offered a safety net. The recovery process starts with getting advisers, advertising the organisation and getting requisite approval from regulatory agencies. We must support AMCON to achieve this effort. Therein is the successful conception of the National Carrier. I also want to advise that we avoid some glaring mistakes that led to the fall of Virgin Nigeria which are  The use of government power to foist unfair and “favourable” agreements.  Secrecy of would be investors that were labelled institutional investors.  Non participation of Nigerian investors in the management of the airline.  Non involvement of aviation stakeholders in the ownership structure.  Government interference in operational schedule. ALL NATIONS HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ENSURING SAFE AND PROFITABLE DEVELOPMENT OF AVIATION! Thank You Olumide Ohunayo Head Research & Corporate Travel Zenith Travel& Consult PRO Aviation Round Table

NIGERIAN AIRLINE: WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN

NIGERIA AIRLINE: WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? The recent visit of Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, to the capital city Abuja and the subsequent press interview granted by him has generated a lot of negative comments from stakeholders and industry players who found some of his comments and mission to Nigeria, offensive. What was offensive to players was his description of Nigeria airlines as being weak, and their intention to invest and own a carrier in Nigeria. I do not align with the negative comments because he did not use safety risk but weak which is very broad and can be interwoven with other concomitants when assessing the state of Nigerian airlines. I also do not see anything wrong in ET investing in a local carrier, if the extant laws are applied and a level playing field is applied for all investors in the industry. ET is currently in Togo through an investment in ASKY airlines, in Ghana partnering with their government for a national carrier as also in Niger Republic and operating four entry points into Nigeria. ET will not be eligible to start our national carrier if they don’t give concessions because fares, services and competition will be sacrificed to the detriment of Nigerian and other west coast passengers. They should be encouraged to invest in any of the domestic airlines or start a new one. This will ginger competition on the home front, improve service delivery and ultimately reduce fares. We have Comair in South Africa a British Airways franchise, ASKY in Togo partly owned by ET as stated earlier and AWA in Ghana whose forbearers are a team from HAINAN, a Chinese airline. These airlines are doing very well in the region and are poised to latch into the Single Africa Air Transport Market successfully. We need more airlines in the domestic market considering some routes have exorbitant fares as high as N70,000 just because there are no competitors on that route, a subtle connivance among operators. Let me digress a bit, the unending clamour for the reversal of the different Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) signed by Nigeria with other nations will be unabated. The reasons for these are the multiple entries, persistent increase in gauge and frequencies for foreign airlines which is a clear departure from the past where these airlines seek to discuss with our carriers on commercial partnership or pay royalties to the government for extra flights beyond what was agreed in the BASA. Commercial aviation the world over has moved beyond royalty payment to any government that is desirous of developing a vibrant industry rather than parroting it, while it also encourages talking or partnering with their homegrown airlines. The government has a responsibility to strengthen their airlines, protect any designated carrier who carries the flag which ultimately increases employment and productivity. It’s a better option to increasing frequencies for foreign carriers who will use one ground-handling company and same office staff which lowers their cost, increase profit and capital flight. The industry was alarmed last week when the news broke that Emirates airline has been granted an extra frequency to Lagos despite having two daily frequencies to Lagos and another daily flight to Abuja while Etihad airline from the same country also has a daily flight. To our amazement Emirates said it was a hajj flight and it will operate for one month. Did emirates bid for Hajj? Why didn’t they park the aircraft at the Hajj camp to ferry the passengers? Why were other passengers going to other international destinations taken inbound and outbound on a Hajj flight? Heads in the Ministry and NCAA should roll, and Emirates sanctioned for this breach, as this was a deliberate act targeted at frustrating Air Peace out of the Sharjah route. Unfortunately, government officials became pawns to kill our own. We need a selfless Minister in our industry and the President should look at a commercially oriented person or we will keep going round in circles. Nigeria Airways and not Emirates, developed the Dubai route. Emirates only latched on to the fruits when WT fell. Emirates love multiple entries and frequencies yet can’t invest in a Nigerian airline or build one themselves. WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? Curiously, why do they sidetrack our airlines for discussion with politicians at the Federal and State level? Why are we having a cacophony of responses or reactions in the industry to the obvious slide in our commercial air-transport which is now advantageous to the foreign airlines? Why will an investor come in when the natural protectionist policy for homegrown airlines have simply vanished by just walking straight to the Presidency or the Ministry with an a-la-carte and the deal is signed? Kenyan government has withheld Emirates application for a third frequency and Etihad’s application to operate into Nairobi because they need to sort out Kenya Airways’ dwindling performance. WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? The industry players are the greatest culprits in all of this and the incoming Minister for State (Aviation) must be very careful while seeking advice, which is oftentimes laced with self, and not national interest. The recent hearing at the Senate where almost all the Senators were defending international flights to their states and the reasons to sustain them is a typical example, while industry players in turn speak on behalf of who pays a cheque or supports their personal programmes. We are on the verge of starting a new national carrier after many false starts from Air Nigeria in 1993 to Nigeria Air in 2018. 26 years, and we are still going round in circles. During this period, the best we got for our efforts was Virgin Nigeria, who within six years had all certifications and numerous offers for partnership. Virgin Nigeria was later made to pay the ultimate price, starting with a wide-body on a wet lease which was forced on them by the government of the day which insisted that they wanted an international presence in London and other cities. The lease unbalanced VN operations and burnt quickly through whatever funds the airline had raised. Not surprisingly, while Virgin Nigeria won a number of best new airline awards in 2006, in 2008 it also reported a $41 million loss, equivalent to 80% of the airline’s start-up capital, the rest is history. We are toeing that line with the new national carrier project of acquiring five aircrafts and flying to international destinations almost immediately without any base or foundation, just government support without requisite funding. No wonder the investors had to flee or in local parlance put us in “is coming” mode. WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? The immediate past Minister; Senator Hadi Sirika till the 90th minute, in his numerous meetings with stakeholders never saw anything reasonable in discussing the faith of AERO and ARIK and tying it with the new national carrier. These airlines are under the management of government through AMCON and saved from liquidation, so we may ask why did the government choose to resuscitate rather than let them die two years ago? What will happen to these airlines if the government that is sourcing for investors for them is on the other hand sourcing for investors to start a new national carrier? WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN? It’s time to bite the bullet and the government must take a firm decision. In doing that, we must realize that the banks owed by the duo are owned by Nigerians and they also need to be protected, the Ministry of Finance, Justice and the Central Bank must be involved in the final push or the bullet will ricochet. Domestic airlines are protected and supported irrespective of agreements signed with other countries, Nigeria cannot be different. The US3 (United, American & Delta) met with their President recently to resist the open skies agreement with M3 (Qatar, Etihad & Emirates). The CEO of Delta was tactically absent because he bought Airbus aircraft and not Boeing and didn’t want to be tongue lashed or Trump lashed. The US has refused to sign open skies with China till date because their airlines and unions resisted saying it’s a threat to their job security. Yet smaller countries were bamboozled to the open skies dotted lines. Kenya government is still trying to straighten Kenya Airways’ (KQ) books. They are renationalising the airline while KLM the technical partner is still dumbfounded. They also tried to make a joint holding company to manage KQ, Kenya Airports and other government owned service providers which was resisted by the airport workers with a devastating strike. ET and the M3 have successfully used this model as a quasi subsidy option to buffet the bottom-line of their carriers and strengthening their finances hence the outcry by US3. I am not advocating this model for Nigeria. Obviously, we have moved beyond that stage. Our airlines would receive more foreign direct investment and offers of strategic partnership if airlines and the aviation sector were run on a transparent basis, securing long-term funding, scarce access to capital means playing by international rules. Annual reports must be prepared to international accounting standards, quarterly reporting of operational statistics and presentation of board meeting reports on strategic decisions amongst other things must also be maintained. Olumide Ohunayo

ONE YEAR UNDER PMB

AVIATION: ONE YEAR AFTER It is a year and some days today since we have been under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari. His promises to the industry remain a dream, and hopefully will be a reality before 2019 elections. The President and his party, in their campaign manifesto promised us a new national carrier that will fly the flag as a refreshing replacement to the liquidated Nigeria Airways. He promised to reduce the number of aircraft in the Presidential Fleet to save cost and to redress all lopsided agreements signed to the detriment of Nigeria, and Nigerians in particular. Presently, the industry is badly hit by the freefall of the Naira and the unstable high exchange rate, which has driven a huge blade in the finances of local and foreign operators. Local operators cannot increase gauge, or negotiate new leases, and foreign carriers are either pulling out of routes, or reducing frequencies. Also, to the consternation of industry stakeholders, Government that promised to redress lopsided agreements, went ahead to sign an expanded agreement with Qatar. Qatar has only one point of entry and is a strong airline that is heavily subsidised and supported by its Government. In a bid to cut the cost of public travel, Government abolished First Class tickets for officials, but the much awaited and needed restructuring of aviation agencies has not happened. We have taken note of the tailored visit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to some agencies, and this is APPLAUDED. Recently, Government rolled out a new set of promises: the National Carrier Project that was earlier jettisoned as not being a priority; concessioning of choice airports; establishment of a National Maintenance Hangar; setting up of an aircraft leasing company; and an advanced Aviation School in Abuja. The Ministry of Budget and Planning has also included some of our projects in the national planning program which is a good development. I strongly advise that they engage stakeholders before implementation. From the foregoing, it is evident that Government is tilting towards productivity hence the emphasis on commercialisation and efficiency with a subtle acceptance that the previous government bequeathed a good safety and security template that must be sustained in the interim, or better still moved to excellent. The change process is slow and the players are hurting, therefore Government must rev the engine and move. In moving, the following should be considered:after a year, the resource guzzling Presidential Fleet is still the same size. To our surprise, the President has also been very silent on this issue. Why the sudden change in position? Mr President, the civil aircraft in the Presidential Fleet, excluding 001 and a good backup aircraft using range and sitting capacity as an advantage, should be discarded without hesitation. On the Aircraft Leasing Company being proposed, it should take off as a PPP, which will metamorphose into a Commercial Aircraft Finance Enterprise (CAFE). This company is a needed tonic to provide safe, efficient and affordable air transport for intra Africa travel. The CAFE idea will allow airlines access to aircraft with minimal cash, compared to outright purchase or leasing from companies outside the continent. The company should only deal with commercially viable carriers, hence the need for our airlines to consolidate fragmented routes and begin to develop strong regional cooperation. The agencies in the sector need urgent manpower and administrative surgery. They are tilted politically to the detriment of professionalism, therefore to restore efficiency and reduce cost, Government should not only dig into the past rot, but ensure that the books are combed to ascertain purported expenses and liabilities. On public travel, Government should go further and warehouse all public travel. This will involve inviting foreign airlines who have shown interest to submit offers, which will be heavily discounted and renegotiated on bi-annual basis. The Australian Government just renegotiated public travel costs with foreign airlines flying into Australia, despite having strong carriers. Unfortunately, 97% of our public travel is on foreign airlines. With the introduction of single till account, our public travel can be warehoused to reduce costs. The process of stabilising the naira has started and it must be sustained to bring the economy back to its feet, boost investors’ confidence and increase enplanement. The official window should be opened for all schedule operators only, corporate and private aircraft owners should source for their forex. Also, scheduled flights should be seen as essential services, not residual, hence the need to address taxes and charges built into the system and passenger tickets. The purported deregulation of aviation fuel should be revisited, not reversed. The supply mode is tactically regulated, while passengers pay fuel surcharge on each ticket till date, despite the fall in oil prices. There is something wrong here. On the concession of choice airports, Government should please go through all the different options on the table, while also using our peculiar socio economic barometer before closing the door. Taking only the four viable airports alone and leaving the unviable ones will create more problems for the industry. There should be fairness and transparency from the beginning to prevent future problems, while an independent, robust and strong regulatory body must come on stream to protect the public. It is the norm and we cannot be different. Government has committed to African Single Sky which will commence sometime next year. Before its commencement, Nigeria should spearhead the immediate implementation of the ECOWAS Single Sky. The Ghanaians have opened their skies and non Ecowas members are feasting to our detriment. Our carriers in their present state can flex their muscles on the West Coast, but will be unable to key into the imminent African Single Sky project due to poor corporate structure, systems and processes that have made them leprous outside the Nigerian airspace. How do you explain this? ASKY, a young Togolese carrier, and Air Rwanda, which belongs to a country still recovering from genocide and without CAT 1 certification have numerous code shares and interline with foreign carriers, which account for about 30% of their revenue; while our carriers can boast of none with our CAT 1 and numerous IOSA certifications. These airlines cannot blame Government for commercial failures but themselves, hence the repeated agitation for a national carrier. If Government says the new national carrier will be privately driven, then it is a national airline not a national carrier. Will these new investors be given more protection, support and exclusivity up and above other investors in the industry? That will not be fair. What is fair, is a new regulatory consolidation process that will remove the ridiculous two aircraft get an AOC to ten aircraft get an AOC. Also, the Presidential Inter-Agency Committee set up to assist AMCON, which incidentally includes our Minister of State should do whatever is needed to save publicly owned banks, rather than airlines owned by individuals due to the impact on our economy. We need at least two national airlines. Sadly, we do not have any in the Nigerian skies, therefore let us consolidate their liabilities and get a technical partner to buy government equity. It is pertinent to point out that the ghost of the liquidated National Carrier is still hanging with non-payment of staff and this must be taken into consideration as plans are made. The MRO Project being mooted is also a good idea. It will reduce operational cost and strengthen our operational prowess. Efforts by investors to key into this project were frustrated by a minister in the previous administration, who requested for $30M from the $100M loan granted the investor to start the project. How callous! Government can recall this investor with an apology, or send out a new set of bids. The Minister of State should, as a matter of urgency, convene a Stakeholders’ Conference that will draft and present a National Civil Aviation Policy (NCAP}. What he called last month was ministerial briefing and not a Stakeholders’ Conference. We need the policy to tackle common bottlenecks to propel Nigerian aviation. The new policy must reflect liberalisation and be pro growth. Some countries have done it. India’s new NCAP is designed to empower carriers to: bypass regulators and negotiate commercial partnerships; improve facilitations by using fast travel technology systems; and self handling will be allowed to boost competition with ground handlers. Taxes on maintenance will also be reviewed downwards. These and many more can be looked into to bolster our industry. Finally, Mr President, tourism drives aviation and vice versa. For us to stop dreaming and achieve the much cherished hub status, we need a strong national airline to do it, not a foreign carrier. To improve tourism and attract traffic to our airports from neighbouring countries, we need to stop the embarrassing and corrupt behaviour of our Immigration, Customs and other officials by removing the numerous checking posts aka toll gates created on the routes leading into our country and restrict them to our borders. These officials are corrupt and have fantastically corrupted our neighbours. We need people from neighbouring countries to come here to fly, rather than go to Ghana. It is a challenge we must overcome.

THE JODA COMITTEE REPORT

The media was recently awash with the Joda Committee report; key decisions were taken and forwarded to the presidency for implementation. The committee asked the Federal government to merge all airlines owing AMCON to form a major carrier or is it a National carrier .I do not agree to that submission because the debt to asset ratio of Arik Air is obviously higher than its liabilities,binding it with other carriers because of indebtedness will not be appropriate . Also I am not impressed with the management of Aero by AMCON ,the airline rather than improve in services has been reducing in operations and fleet with an abysmal staff strength. The resuscitating medication is not working ,therefore AMCON should lookout for other options such as advertising for buyers or shop for turnaround airline experts not unemployed expatriates to help the recovery process before a merger ,an outright merger now will be counterproductive and a subtly subsidy for families who mismanaged their airlines using funds from banks owned by Nigerians. The committee also wants the government to address the under -utilisation of routes, this is a good initiative if we can address this problem .The airlines are fixiated on the trunk routes leaving other domestic routes to a flight or two per day. These famished routes can be improved upon if the Airport facilities are tweaked to extend operational hours,by drastically reducing charges and fees at such airports and by also giving interested airlines some Incentives. It’s the joint responsibility of the Federal and State government to attract flights to those airports, with the Federal government taking the lead.If we improve facilities and increase operational hours it will benefit our airlines, passengers and the economy at large. The committee also requested that the NCAA should enforce the capitalisation requirement of #2.5b and #5b naira respectively, for domestic and international operators that are registered in Nigeria, within three months. I totally disagree, we will continue to progress in error if the emphasis is on capitalisation . We should use fleet as the barometer of measurement by moving it from the ridiculous minimum of two aircrafts to ten aircrafts for domestic/west coast and twelve for international route . An airline with two aircraft will have commercial integrity challenge that cannot attract partners ,financial institutions or schedule integrity. Capitalisation is mere documentation in Nigeria they will all recapitalise on paper while the rot increases in reality. The committee also requested that government should upgrade facilities at our airports for the improvement or passenger services and comfort . I totally agree with this position provided public funds will not be used because of the indebtedness of FAAN and the multiple unfinished projects in our airports spread across the country. The transformation ship hit a financial iceberg when the BASA funds was completely extinguished, taking 22 airports at a go was a political decision not economic. Therefore the government should rather get a reputable airport management organisation to manage and restructure FAAN for a minimum of 10 years .They should be given a free and an uninterrupted environment to work,while efforts will be geared at reducing the debts accrued from the uncompleted or is it failed transformation agenda. To digress a bit I am taken aback by the conflicting position of the government with respect to the presidential fleet, during the campaign period the CHANGE TEAM promised to dispose aircrafts in the presidential fleet which will be used to start a national carrier project, after the inauguration the tone changed. My simple take on it, is that aircrafts in the presidential fleet are divided by civil and military registration, those with the military registration should not be touched but remain with the air force to be used to support and protect the country and the presidency in particular. Those with the civil registration should be disposed off . Mr. President and Vice president Aircrafts should be retained , a third aircraft can be on standby for a year or two to ascertain its relevance. The government should also urgently look at our bilateral agreements and multiple entries ,if Ethiopian Airlines commences the Port-Harcourt route as planned that will be the fifth entry point into Nigeria. Here is an airline that has chosen to invest in other countries in Africa bypassing Nigeria that has given them the highest number of passengers. I also will want us to address the issue of Saudi owned carriers lifting pilgrims from seven Nigerian states , how they arm twisted the government to partake in lifting Nigerian pilgrims are quite baffling. The issue of reciprocity has to do with scheduled passenger and cargo flights which at the moment are being operated by the Saudi national carrier alone unchallenged. Our airlines and passengers pay the requite duties and taxes on each passenger taken to Jeddah, which should be enough for their government. To force our pilgrims into Saudi carriers and also short changing our airlines and tour operators is tantamount to aero political bulling. IT MUST BE REVERSED. This government should realise that Nigerians voted for them not for their unrealistic promises but the realistic failures seen therefore the target is correction not promises our aviation is failing and needs some corrections.

BELATED LAMENTATIONS OF CHIEF CHIDOKA

The outgoing, and hopefully, last Aviation Minister, if our aspirations for efficient administration and cost reduction in the industry come to pass, was in his usual arrogant and passing the buck mood at his valedictory session with selected stakeholders. During the session, he carefully tabled assignments that he could have addressed while in office unhindered for the incoming administration to tackle. On his appointment, the outgoing President said he was bringing him in as a striker to score dying minute goals and also defend the perceived lead in a game that had not ended. The Chief himself told us that he is not in a hurry and has enough time to achieve and surpass the expectations and aspirations of the GEJ Administration. He therefore attended several executive aviation programmes and mini training courses in Canada to get acquainted with issues in the industry. On his return, he met industry stakeholders and dictated instead of listening during the multiple sessions, and in line with protocol, the agency heads nodded in agreement. Thereafter, he proceeded to assert himself perfectly by setting up committees to look at the various safety recommendations and other operational glitches. He went further to introduce various IT applications to complement existing processes and systems. Down the line he manifested the traits of a typical minister, flying chartered flights sponsored by the agencies. He failed to address structural and personnel defects in the agencies, which was a cardinal point of his programme. He followed the trail by introducing and imposing family and friends on the agencies, and also promoting and confirming the inner circles that were handed over to him as untouchables. The unions rose and wrote against some of the appointments, but he got away with some, such as the recent and obviously very flawed recruitment exercise in FAAN. It is amazing that he asked the incoming government to implement the 2006 Paul Dike Committee Report, which he described as a solution to the mirage of problems in the sector. So our dear Chief, why did you allow the report to gather more dust while you were in office? He also asked the incoming government to go after the remodeling and transforming contractors who collected money and did not do their jobs and those that provided sub-standard material. These contractors had numerous meetings with the Minister during his eight month reign and at no point did he raise this issue. Rather, in tandem with the agencies they either sponsored his trips, chieftaincy ceremonies or other engagements tabled before them. He never asked for refunds, neither did he criticise job quality. He kept promising to source funds for the completion of the projects. He also canvassed the setting up of an airport management company to manage FAAN which is a good idea. Unfortunately, he did not work towards that throughout his tenure. He preferred to impose his cronies and aides on the agency. The master plan that was handed to him by Ms. Stella Oduah was jettisoned for an Aviation Commit programme that was equally jettisoned by those to implement it. Suddenly, he is asking for a master plan for the industry and a transparent aerotropolis project. The icing on the slippery floor is barely 48 hours old. He appeared on NTA decrying the appalling technical staffing in the Ministry and agencies under his watch. He canvassed that a 60/40 ratio would have been ideal. Chief, it is too late to cry. Just leave us, while we earnestly wait for the incoming administration to clear the industry mess and rot.

TRANSFORMATION OF THE AVIATION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA (PROSPECTS&CHALLENGES)

2015 MAY DAY LECTURE Presented by Mr. OLUMIDE .O. OHUNAYO (Head Research Travel: Zenith Travel&Consult) TRANSFORMATION OF THE AVIATION INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA: PROSPECTS & CHALLENGES Transformation of the industry was a cardinal campaign promise of the PDP under the leadership of President Ebele Jonathan. Thereafter, Ms. Stella Oduah was appointed as the Honourable Minister to lead the transformation flight. The flight will terminate at Eagle Square in a couple of weeks, under the headship of Chief Chidoka, who incidentally is the fourth Aviation Minister within the last four years. I will not dwell on the past or present, but will focus on the future and to do that we need to look at issues in the industry that should be addressed, reviewed and if possible annulled to give the incoming administration the necessary pedal to push for the ‘change’ that was voted for by Nigerians. The change in the industry must start with the scrapping of the Ministry of Aviation and all aviation related Senior Special Assistant positions. The Ministry and the SSAs to president have increased the cost of service delivery, bureaucracy, processing time, and are irritating interlopers. They have over burdened the agencies with personnel and bills to the detriment of efficiency, safety and profitability. (Agencies are forced to pay for their chartered flights and tickets of family members till date). Governance is a continuum, so I advise that the adjusted or is it updated version of the Steven Oransanye Committee Report on the industry should not be trashed, but tweaked to the benefit of all. The Presidential Air Fleet (PAF) is too large for a country bleeding financially due to prolonged mismanagement and recent low crude oil price. The fleet should be reduced to the barest minimum, and the remaining aircrafts should either be sold off or used as the bedrock for a new aircraft leasing company not to start a national carrier. Gray market popularly called illegal charter flights are operated by civil and military aircrafts. This hydra headed monster remains unresolved in spite of the rhetoric on the matter. Military participation in civil charter is illegal and detrimental to commercial charter operators, and also encourages romance with politicians, which will affect security and professionalism. The incoming government must show leadership, while the regulator needs to educate end users about the dangers of the gray market. Illegal flights put insurance coverage in jeopardy, create unfair competition and hinder the growth of legitimate operators. The luxury tax introduced recently for charter and private operations by the ministry of finance is a bit late, but commendable. As expected, implementation has always been the bane of the industry. The norm in other climes is that non aeronautical services and general aviation revenue are used to oil the wheels of operations and improved profitability. It is on these bases that the incoming government should devise new strategies that will effectively capture and increase revenue from these sources by increasing the deployment of IT facilities and removing all waivers and subsidies granted to non schedule operators/ private operators who have deliberately latched on the umbilical cord of scheduled operators. These waivers and subsidies are robbing Peter to pay Paul. Appointments, employment and elevation in the agencies saw the worst politicisation in the last four years. The organograms are improperly structured and top heavy. FAAN is worse off and its union members need to brace up by protecting career professionals and public servants. The agencies need reforms and reorganisation to ensure improved service delivery and revenue generation. The consolidation of the industry will be the best transformation therefore we need to stop the rot and the foot dragging of the operators, regulator and government. A REGULATED FLEET CONSOLIDATION PROCESS should be initiated immediately to strengthen our carriers, improve safety and attract partners. I propose a minimum of 5 schedule commercial jets for domestic operators, 8 for regional and 10 for international operators. Thereafter strong flag carriers in national outlook will blossom, while a Fly Nigeria Act should be used to complement the consolidation process. WE DO NOT NEED TO START A NEW NATIONAL CARRIER, LET IT BLOSSOM NATURALLY BY OWNERSHIP AND OPERATIONAL PROWESS. What we lack are policies to strengthen and encourage new investors. It is no secret that most infrastructural investments and foreign carriers are natural monopolies or have monopoly-like characteristics. To offset the negative impact of monopolistic behaviour, the independent regulator must keep the consumer interest paramount both in terms of price and service levels. Therefore a credible independent robust economic regulator should be considered. This is a refreshing innovation that will curb and punish predatory activities, ginger competition and most importantly protect domestic carriers and consumers from companies and airlines with significant market power and dominant position. The NCAA should focus on technical and safety oversight, their core competence. Incidentally, the idea of an independent regulatory body tallies with the new Civil Aviation Policy, IATA position on effective governance and the World Bank Report presented to stakeholders last year. If the unit is not politicised or made an appendage of any Ministry, it will be the most important legacy of the incoming administration, and will also act as a purveyor of an encompassing antitrust body that will protect Nigerians in other sectors of the economy. Open Skies is another area that needs change, we hurriedly signed the open skies and other unfair bilateral agreements that has increased frequencies, gauge and entry points. Some couple of months back the ministry committed us to African Single Sky project. We need to tarry a while before joining the single sky project. They want to operate our lucrative routes directly it’s a pseudo cabotage. The change we need is FAIR SKIES. The government owned Sky Power Catering is rotten due to neglect and cannibalisation of its assets and properties, since the demise of Nigeria Airways. The incoming government should sell the firm or lease to a reputable catering organisation. THE ROT MUST STOP. In conclusion, transformation now means CHANGE. On the 29th May of 2015, there will be a change in government and governance, hopefully it should reflect in our industry if we address the issues highlighted.

AVIATION COMMITS: implementation and sustainability are key to delivery

A couple of days ago industry players were gathered at the Oriental hotel Lekki, at the instance of the Honourable Minister Aviation for the public presentation of Aviation Commit Initiative. In his words "It is a compendium of the industry commitments and initiative aimed at repackaging, rebranding and redirecting the industry towards enhanced service delivery and customer satisfaction". In achieving these objectives he directed members of the committees on accident report and aeronautical charges to liaise with the requisite agency heads and institutions for an accelerated implementation of their findings. The minister went further by highlighting some decisions he has consented to before proceeding with the public presentation of the aviation commit manual. The minster in his presentation said he had directed NCAA to publish the list of private operators who should not operate commercial flights, while all commercial flights being flown in the country must have a Nigerian in the cockpit irrespective of aircraft type. He went further by promising to address the issue of foreign registered carriers and the disparity in different charges on fares offered by the local airlines. He also talked about airline recapitalisation and liberalisation subtly tagged African single sky. Most of the issues relating to private jet, foreign registration and Nigerian content are enshrined in our regulations, acts and policies. Why have implementation and enforcement been difficult all these while? Why has the NCAA deliberately looked the other way? What has made the private jet operators so powerful that every minister comes with the same threat and become selective or partisan in implementation? What is new this time are the word "Commit", and a timeline which is not necessary for those who have commercially raped the system. The committee on aeronautical charges was on point on the issue of multiple and overlapping charges which the different agencies must address to improve and attract carriers. The agencies will have some distortions in the anticipated revenue since they have to reduce or eliminate some of the multiple charges while in the same breath commit to a 100% increase in internal revenue generation in a timeframe of less than a year without giving a base figure. The mathematics here is suspicious considering the huge overhead burden inherited by all the agencies and the gross excitement of impressing the minister. Even AIB the investigator is making such commitment. On recapitalisation, I will want to reiterate my humble disagreement on the issue of recapitalisation as a panacea to the problem of our airlines. It will only ensure we once again progress in error and deceit, these airlines in-conjunction with their bankers will prefer to see the airlines limping than being taken to the theatre for surgical operations. We must abort the fanciful flight of recapitalisation and board the fleet consolidation by regulation flight that will move minimum fleet from two to ten. Fleet is a physical asset that can be seen and verified it will sanitise operations while improving safety and profitability. On liberalisation and single African sky, the minister needs to thread softly, slowly and diplomatically. Liberalisation in the skies is a different ball game entirely. It is usually parroted, documented and encouraged but opaque in implementation. The US proponents of open skies have refused to sign with china, while the unions and airlines are asking them to review that of the gulf carriers. The pressure from American carriers has delayed the take off Norwegian low cost carrier from Dublin to New York despite meeting all the regulatory laws and conditions. We signed open skies with the US and had a five year head start which we fritter away till this moment because the decision was hasty with no carrier(s) to capitalise on it. The African single sky being proposed is a baby of Ethiopia airlines (ET) and government and the target is to operate to Europe, Far East and America from Lagos and Abuja. It's a subtle cabotage that we will make us the usual sitting giant. ET claimed the conditions are not ripe to invest in Nigeria but the same conditions have given them the highest frequencies and points into the country. Rather they have chosen to invest and partner other African countries such as Togo, Rwanda, Malawi, Congo and Zambia. In some recent publications in Nigeria, the CEO buttressed his call for single African sky because it has worked well in Europe but deliberately side stepped the ownership structure of those airlines. The caveat in liberalisation is collaboration; those airlines that are benefiting from the single sky policy are not solely owned by a government or person though protected by their respective government. If ET wants a single sky policy ownership structure must be diluted therefore, they should offload a certain percentage to countries that contribute to their total payload rather than grandstand using our politicians and selected media outlets. Nigeria is simply not ready neither do we have an airline that can represent us at the moment, we should tarry a while and learn from previous mistakes. In concluding, the Aviation Commit was a good initiative but implementation and sustenance are the key attributes that may hinder its objectives. I also noticed the chief executives signing the documents gleefully while their subordinates were committed to be sanctioned in the manuals and in some cases not carried along in the new initiative.

Fleet Reregulation not Recapitalisation

The committee set up by the honourable minister to look at charges, fares and other factors militating against the development of the industry have submitted its report, with the minister directing the agencies to ensure immediate implementation. The committee did a good job and brought to the fore some of the issues that has been raised in the past by industry watchers which includes but not limited to the dubious fuel surcharge hidden in our tickets by operators while also avoiding the tax regime. Other recommendations among others include the unnecessary retention of agency funds by operators while the poor performance in quality, service and operations was hinged on poor capitalisation and a need to urgently recapitalise the airlines. I humbly disagree on the issue of recapitalisation as a panacea to the problem of our airlines. It will only ensure we once again progress in error and deceit, these airlines in-conjunction with their bankers will prefer to see the airlines limping than being taken to the theatre for surgical operations. The bankers want to keep the window of loan repayment open, in tandem with lawyers employed for the preparation of documents by the airlines. They will only recapitalise the accounts of Corporate Affairs Commission and the lawyers engaged to process the documents. Thereafter the recapitalisation will be achieved. Flashing back to the twilight of the Obasanjo government, Chief Fani- Kayode was the minister of aviation with a marching order to stop the concurrent air mishaps and unsafe operations. He gave the same directive to all airlines to recapitalise based on their operational certification, the deadline was May 30 2007, barely 24hours to handing over to the new government. The airlines knowing the rudiments of presenting and processing documents got their legal team to work and they all recapitalised and also effectively beat the deadline set by the federal government. Looking at the list of airlines that recapitalised and satisfied the aspirations of the government as it were, at that time, only Arik has increased in equipment and operations while others have shrunk in size and operations or simply vanished or in coma. So what has recapitalisation achieved? The regulatory body recently issued AOC’s to Azman, Discovery, Hak and Air Peace airlines using the archaic two minimum aircraft rule, these airlines with the exception of Air Peace are either grounded or struggling to overcome the vagaries of operation. Air Peace airline the strongest fleet wise of the new entrants, is walking with the crutches of the amnesty office time will tell if they will be able to drop the crutches and walk with their two legs. On the other hand Medview airlines appears to be doing well with route expansion on the domestic and international routes with an increasing fleet, they have also promised to take the airline to the market which literally translates to ownership with other Nigerians and willing investors. It’s a good gesture that must come to fruition which will serve as a tonic for other carriers and also help stimulate the Fly Nigeria Act Project. The expansion and fleet size of Medview airlines is nothing compared to the size of Arik Air whose dominance of our skies is unpararelled in recent time. Sadly, the dominance has been used to benchmark foreign airlines crazy and exploitative fares on the international route. How do you justify Arik Air charging N94, 000 one-way on the Accra –Abuja route, a flight of less than 45 minutes and N360, 000 on the Lagos- London route a flight of less than 7 hours, just to latch on the Christmas season? We need to build at least two carriers to fly the flag and a third to compete well on the domestic route; this will ginger competition, attract investors, expand ownership and increase enplanement. To achieve these objectives we must abort the fanciful flight of recapitalisation and board the fleet consolidation by regulation flight that will move minimum fleet from two to ten. A stitch in time saves the industry from prolonged agony.

VIRGIN ATLANTIC REORGANISATION AND INSENSITIVITY

It is no secret that Virgin Atlantic is undergoing some cost restructuring and has done everything possible to cross the red line. They have closed some routes, reduced frequencies and gauge on some, while practically tearing down the low cost unit of the airline. In Nigeria, frequency has been consistent to Lagos, with increase in gauge, while Port Harcourt, along with Nairobi and Accra routes were axed sometime ago. Last week, the airline closed the Ticketing and Sales Department in Nigeria, throwing some Nigerians in the labour market while increasing the pain of their customers with the non acceptability of Nigerian credit cards. The airline’s spokesperson in Nigeria was quoted thus, “flight bookings, complaints or travel related calls from Nigeria will be directed to Johannesburg in South Africa.” He added that, “…the airline continues to review its business while driving efficiencies. Therefore, we are closing the Lagos Contact Centre and directing calls from Nigeria to the Johannesburg Contact Centre. Having one regional contact centre will mean we can serve our customers 24 hours during week days while delivering efficiencies. Our customers can also make their booking on the Virgin Atlantic website”. In taking some of these decisions the Management of Virgin was simply insensitive to our feelings, support and contribution to their successful operation into Nigeria. I will start by reminding Virgin that they promised that their entry into Nigeria would drive down fares just as they have done in other cities. I was one of those hoodwinked by this sentiment. Virgin instead joined the fray by offering exorbitant and absolutely crazy First and Business Class fares. British Airways resisted Virgin’s entry into Nigeria and lobbied for increased frequency. Our Ministry closed her ears and signed a dual designation with the British government. That decision angered the IFC team working on a new National Carrier project that was hinged on protection and exclusivity. They consequently pulled out of the National Carrier project and we are still going round in circles in search of a solution. The Lagos route, which is Virgin’s most profitable, gives the airline the highest revenue per seat in the region due to the huge demand for the higher class and fares by the public sector, which has made other Nigerians maximise the use of the full economy seats. This egoistic appetite is at the expense of Nigerian aviation industry in general. Sadly, Virgin’s choice of the South African Center to coordinate is to our detriment, and should be reconsidered since we generate huge revenue and commensurate yield for the airline. IATA initially asked the South Africans to coordinate the Bill Settlement Plan (BSP) for travel agencies. The deluge of complaints by Nigerians over the quality of services, time and cultural differences, made them move it to Amman and in the nearest future it will be here in Nigeria. Virgin has not promoted Nigerian staff, nor allowed them to unionise like their colleagues in England. They offer 12 weeks Maternity Leave as against the 6 months approved by British government for their counterpart. Also, salaries, allowances and other emoluments offered to Nigerian staff are much lower and a mere pittance compared to their colleagues in England, including those who work in the same cabins on the Lagos –London route. The staff retrenched recently will walk away with only their December salary, since Virgin declared that gratuity is Nigerian and not British. This regarding the same people who were never paid British salary. The Ministry and NCAA should, as a matter of urgency, take up this issue with the airline. When Virgin stopped operating into Accra, they wanted to lay off Ghanaians with just the last salary, but the Ghanaian government rose up and picked the gauntlet on behalf of the hapless staff. Furthermore, Aviation Logistics Company, which purportedly represents Nigerian interest, should be investigated for culpability. We have been too magnanimous with frequency, gauge and fund repatriation. The Venezuelan, Ghanaian, Indian and Hong Kong governments that protected their citizens and interest cannot be stupid. I must not fail to commend virgin management for coming out boldly to admit they have a problem and are doing everything possible to resolve it. I will also not forget the fact that they are the first international airline operating into Nigeria to employ and sustain Nigerian based cabin crew. It is informative that Mr. Branson who is the face and founder of the airline is not the largest shareholder. He invited British citizens and corporate organizations, and recently sold a large stake to Delta Airlines, a positive example for our numerous father and son airlines that seek cheap public funds and support.

AIRPORT PRIVATISATION: LET US TREAD SOFTLY

The recent announcement by the Bureau of Public Enterprises and subtle confirmation by the Honourable Minister of Aviation on the privatisation of some airports in the country is hasty and may be counterproductive. We are all aware that the remodeling process and associated loans has gulped a lot of money that has consequently sent FAAN to the abyss of debt. The debt should be warehoused by the ministry for now while they also initiate a process of verifying the quality and cost of the remodeling contracts with the hindsight that the contracts and approvals were shrouded in secrecy. The Chinese loans for the new international terminals can be excluded from this process. The question boggling our mind is why the rush to privatise some airports just a few months after turning down the same advice in the Orosanye report? Is the government looking for quick cash to reduce the over N150b debt generated from the remodeling process? Can the privatisation of two viable airports out of about twenty be the solution to indebtedness and inefficiency? FAAN needs help as an organisation, her problems goes beyond budgetary allocation from the federal government because the organisation itself lacks transparency; it has not been able to convince reputable investors. The non availability of a verifiable financial statement over the years, frequent changes in management and leadership in the supervising ministry are other contributory factors. Although the ministers are from the same political party they have divergent policy trust for the organisation, while implementation most times ends on the drawing board. FAAN can survive and generate funds for the treasury if we give reputable airport companies the contract to manage FAAN for a minimum of 10 years. Expertise is required in airport management and in generating non-aviation income. One of the main reasons why BAA is seen as a model is its success in bringing the contribution of non-aviation income to about 70% of total turnover which presently is about 25% in FAAN. Airports world over are seeking to increase non- aviation income. The UK experience of privatising worked well in a matured political society after being a regulated environment for decades. In less developed countries like ours, governments should be tilting towards building and enhancing the transport system rather than just offloading the assets. This is to avoid a situation whereby we move from ugly state-owned airports to even uglier privately owned airports. It is noteworthy that most reputable private sector investors would not consider buying an airport with fewer than one million passengers. This is why airports have often been sold as a package - good and bad, small and large, domestic and international. In achieving the objective, the government should as a first step invite reputable international airport management companies, who will often achieve what governments can no longer take care of - improvements in capacity, efficiency and safety. These private managers are internationally recognized airport operators with track records who can be sourced and verified by a click on the mouse. They will act as advisors or management consultants to government within a limited time frame. I am not referring to the usual masquerades that form a ‘quickie’ consortium and rush to Corporate Affairs Commission for registration and will bid and win using Padi- Padi in government. During this period the bid winner should be given a free hand to manage, restructure and position the organisation for a Public Private Partnership or partial privatisation. The management company will ensure compensations and adjustments are provided for all collaterals. Organizations such as Intervistas, GMR, Macquarie, Ferrovial e.t.c. Another option is a PPP arrangement though it has been turbulent in aviation but quite peaceful in shipping and other sectors of the economy. We must endeavour to find a lasting solution to the turbulent PPP arrangement in the industry. It is also a sad realisation that all concessions in the industry have been very messy which is a reflection of the process from the beginning, therefore all parties must be humble enough to accept that at a point in the concession process fairness and transparency which is the hallmark of an efficient concession process was breached. The concurrent favorable judgment of Bi-Courtney in court has made me come to the realisation that principal personnel in FAAN and the Ministry at the period, when this concession and others were signed, were either compromised or exhibited little knowledge of the legal booby traps in the agreement. The midwiferies of this process the Bureau for Public Enterprises, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, National Council on Privatisation, Due Process Unit, Bureau for Public Procurement, Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority and our Ministry need to get their acts together and bite when necessary using requisite acts and ensuring transparency from the scratch. This is a difficult call considering the concurrent misstep of the PPP processes in the industry which has made the process disappointingly slow. Companies that have been badly bruised by our PPP include Aeroport Gateway, HIC, Maevis, Bi-Courtney etc. We should not despair but find that symbolic and smooth nexus between government and investors. It is usually built on project conceptualization, funding, political will and preservation of contract. I must also point out that we are not politically matured for privatisation and cannot manage it, we mismanaged the private jet issue by making it more political than safety which is the bedrock of the industry, it will be replicated in the terminal and parking usage if we privatised. The BPE wants to start with Abuja; an airport that was concessioned to Aeroport Gateway and annulled a couple of months later, only to surreptitiously handover the GAT terminal of the same airport to a private organisation sometime last year without due process. Malaysia Airport Company recently purchased Istanbul airport in Turkey just like the Spanish company did some time ago with some British airports. Our abysmal PPP appraisal will result in severe diplomatic backlash if we short change a foreign organisation. If we insist on privatisation then we should consider the clustering option whereby a major airport will be taken along with other unviable airports within the zone. This will reduce FAAN's liability while they concentrate on regulating, monitoring and securing the airports. Clustering takes the airport in totality rather than the cherry picking option. The Argentines took the 30 airports in totality using funds from the viable to support the unviable ones; the Indians divided the airports into green field and brown field before privatising. To protect the public, airlines and other airport users, the Indian government established an independent regulatory body to monitor and regulate the public and private airports. This will ensure compliance to benchmark service level and generally resist any form of monopolistic tendency. They also set up a scheme called “Viability Gap funding”, to protect, attract and support investors for Non- Viable airports. The government provides funds which can only be accessed by interested investors through a bidding process. Also, the government ensured states where these airports are located are not left out by providing an additional state support agreement to boost the confidence of investors, while also wielding a stick called “Liquidated Damages,” which are charged for defaults. These countries took the airport in totality, the common factor in these agreements are capital injection, improvement of airport facilities, financial returns to government annually, protection of public interest and other operators. Also the agreements were clearly stated and open to the public right from the bidding stage while the use of penalties for default or delay were specified. Luckily some states in Nigeria have been building new airports without waiting for the federal government. States like Jigawa, Imo, Akwa-Ibom, Osun took the bull by the horn. It is laughable and unfair for the federal government to say they are planning to build airports in Bayelsa, Kogi, Nassarawa, Ogun and Kebbi states when these states can emulates their counterparts by building and sourcing investors as partners in developing an efficient airport. If the federal government has funds to waste on those states they can as well use it to improve and expand neighboring airports owned by them. Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Makurdi, Sokoto and Akure airports respectively can benefit from this fund considering their derelict state. We will get it right if we juxtapose these options while ruminating over our socio-economic environment, whichever option we choose must take all the federally owned airports, rather than cherry pick. We also need to take a deep breath and commend the hard working operating staff of FAAN whose allocation come in trickles but are forced to crack their heads, borrow money to manage airports under their watch and maintain the new terminals that should have been bequeathed on the contractors for a minimum of one year. The problem in FAAN is not privatisation but bloated contract debt, political interference and appointees that have made the organisation top heavy. It has increased its running cost, duplicated positions while they subtly run errands for their pay masters through allocation of contracts. We are waiting for the Minister to act its four months now of excessive grammar, garlands gathering and inherited exuberance. He should encourage continuous improvement of airport infrastructure without recourse to public funds which must be complemented by having vibrant flag carriers. Therefore the government should immediately initiate a process of moving our airlines from individually owned to airlines owned by Nigerians. It’s a tonic needed for them to successfully key into public oriented palliatives and policies. In concluding concessions and privatisation is the way forward, they must be accompanied by transparent, robust and independent economic regulation supported by effective industry consultations.

FOREIGN AIRLINES: ABUSE OF NIGERIAN CONTENT AND STAFF

The foreign airlines operating into Nigeria need to brace up and correct glaring anomalies noticed in the treatment of Nigerians working with them and the sanctity of their operational guidelines regarding the Nigerian content as stated in documents submitted to NCAA and the bilateral air services agreement (BASA) signed by our respective countries. Workers of Air France/KLM in Nigeria recently embarked on a warning strike to drive home their agitation for better working conditions and improvement of salaries, under the leadership of NUATE. The management response was simply distasteful. Rather than dialogue and negotiate since it was a warning strike, they tried to break the strike by hiring temporary charlatans to run the system at a considerable security risk to the system, airport and nation at large while also using all intimidating tatics to subdue the staff . Their pilots have given notice for a warning strike, while other staff domiciled in their base have done so in the past without getting the same response from Management. Rather they negotiated and prepared their customers for the strike by cancelling flights, offering refund or allowing change of travel plans without penalty. These carriers lodge their expatriate staff in ikoyi, Victoria Island etc, and also provide police escort and protection right from the airport to any point that catches their fancy; all at a huge cost to and detriment of the local staff take home pay. This opulence is funded by revenue generated from Nigerian passengers and primarily from our public sector that fill the upper cabin irrespective of price and season. Some of the managers brought into the country by these airlines AF/KL inclusive have taken jobs designated for citizens of the host country while the NCAA looks the other way. The NCAA should sit up and protect the nation from the predatory practices of the foreign airlines, they simply need to defend their governing act and ensure compliance. Some years back, Air-France opened a sales outlet in Port-Harcourt in defiance to the rules of engagement, while BA stopped paying commission to our travel agents. These and other acts are the regulatory and competitive loopholes latched onto by the foreign airlines. The blame lies fully with the NCAA and the Ministry that approve while also increasing frequency and gauge without due diligence. If the government does not know how to save Nigerians and the industry in particular then I advise they speak to the Venezuelans who gave stringent conditions for repatriating revenue generated from their soil, The foreign airlines threatened, begged and voluntarily reduced frequencies and gauge. Also the Russians, Chinese and Israelis have fashioned policies to protect their carriers and professionals. Do I need to remind us that Air France operates into Bamako and Ouagadougou only yet have commercial partnership with Air Burkina and Air Mail, these carrier operate the vilified MD 83s which are used to lift Air France passengers to points beyond Bamako and Ouagadougou respectively. KLM invested in Kenya Airways while they (AF/KLM)jointly operate twice daily to Lagos and once daily to Abuja and PortHarcourt. The largesse of the Ministry and consistent bickering between the Federal and State Government gave them and others the leeway. The price for us is the non participation and investment in our carriers while Nigerians working with them are short changed to the detriment of the country. Lufthansa duped us some time ago when their frequent flyer Mr. Omotoba who was then Minister for Aviation signed away extra points and frequencies under a warped agreement that LH will in turn develop our industry commercially. May be his mileage account was developed definitely not this industry. Airlines world over are still investing and partnering, here are some examples; Singapore airlines just partnered with the TATA family to start a new carrier in India; Ethiopian Airlines has just partnered Malawian government to start a new carrier and also uses the Togolese based ASKY airline to undercut us; Etihad pretends to compete with Emirates but for those that can discern they complement each other; they bought shares in Air Seychelles and lately got Alitalia under their belt. Why are Nigerian airlines being bypassed? Even the wobbling and fumbling super eagles went to South Africa last week to play against Bafana Bafana on SAA bypassing Arik that operate to Johannesburg. We shot ourselves in the foot, and we will increase the wound and the debt if we touch the national carrier project. What we need is a national airline policy that will modernize ATC, stabilise fuel price, improve regulatory reforms, strengthen our carriers and increase private participation. If we develop this policy flag carriers will blossom and a national carrier will naturally germinate from there.

DG NCAA: SELF SERVING UNIONS

The unions are at it again - negotiating, arm twisting and queuing behind their preferred candidate for the position of DG NCAA. One of them was bold enough to remove the mask, the others hid behind a new body in a recurring shadow boxing between these unions. The executives of these unions always want the DG in their pockets, so spouses can get accelerated promotions, juicy courses and other illicit benefits. The joint aviation union body (AUGA) comprising of all unions and associations in the industry was formed some years ago to spearhead collective issues in the industry. Their last action was a couple of months ago when they requested for an aviator to replace Ms Oduah in the ministry. It is an empty and unnecessary threat for a single union to give a 21-day ultimatum to ground the industry without getting NEC approval, or carrying other principal associations and unions along. The inter union rivalry played out after the DANA crash, which resulted in the unceremonious exit of the respected and acclaimed Dr. Demuren. It repeated itself during the last cabinet reshuffle, providentially all their preferred candidates lost. The DG NCAA is the most sensitive position in the industry and we must be cautious in our selection process to avert a repetition of the calamitous entry and exit of the last DG, in an industry already divided into four groups with differences on replacement process and persons. The first group is angling for the nominee, Capt. Muktar, whose name has not been submitted to the Senate for confirmation. It is not smooth sailing for him. There are alleged petitions from his colleagues concerning his eligibility based on his work ethics and other cockpit issues. I feel for him though, considering he has already handed over his job at Accident Investigation Bureau. He should not be left in the cold, a soft landing will be more appropriate if he does not get the confirmation. He can be a good replacement for any of the two aviation Special Assistants in the Presidency. One of them has over stayed and is completely detached from the industry, while the other used the position as pensionable gift. The second group is agitating for the Acting DG, Engr. Adeyileka to remain and continue in the acting capacity till thy kingdom come. Are we too short sighted to see the dangers of keeping him for too long in that capacity? It breeds instability and encourages corruption and servitude. We are all witnesses to the last Acting DG's purchase of bullet proof and other vehicles as if they were going extinct. The acting capacity is too long and unhelpful to the industry. The third group, using a serving governor as arrowhead wants Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, who was unjustifiably removed to be reinstated to complete his tenure. The baggage here is that during the few months he spent in office, he did not show the spirit of an ''OMO AKIN'' neither did we see the ''Egin'', a symbol of strength usually exhibited by his people. Incidentally, he is from my maternal home. He kept himself away from core industry players, and stayed in the cocoon of Abuja players in a bid to protect his job. Sadly, the job lost him. Under his watch NCAA lost leadership to NAMA, while a legal consultant held him hostage, holding extended meetings, without attending to critical files. Directors and other critical staff watched bemused. The story of that consultant and intrigues is for another day. The fourth group, which I proudly align with, wants the position advertised for our best brains to come forward. It should be open to all Nigerians within and outside the country. The head hunting should be given to a reputable organisation and the report submitted for auditing. In strengthening that organisation, we must go further by advertising all top positions, while efforts must be made to bring officers that have soiled their hands yet walk with irritating swagger in the organisation to book. All groups must at least be united in the defense of the NCAA Act, autonomy and sanctity of their regulations and processes. The position of DG has tenure and therefore needs clearance from Senate and removal should follow due process as espoused in the NCAA Act. The incoming DG needs to be bold, independent, and conversant with all regulations and most importantly, defend our carriers and ensure growth by having a delicate balance in safety and economic regulations. We do not need a DG that regularly goes to Abuja to see the Minister and implements all directives from the Ministry to the detriment of the industry. International sanctions may apply, if we continue to shackle the regulator. The next DG should be given enough space to perform and the process of appointing a new one must start immediately.

CONFAB: TRANSPORT COMMITTEE REPORT

The ongoing National Conference in Abuja set up a Transport Committee headed by Senator Musa Abebe, a non-schedule operator chieftain in the industry. On submission of the report the conferees debated and resolutions were taken. RETURN OF MERGED AGENCIES TO STATUSQUO Asking Government to return to statusquo without proffering cost reduction measures is merely glossing the issue. The NCAA should remain autonomous, while NIMET should either be merged with NAMA or a related agency in the Ministry of Transport. The Ministry of Aviation should be scrapped with immediate effect. A transparent and competitive public private partnership programme should be initiated for FAAN, and the huge debt owed by the organisation due to the remodelling exercise should be addressed. On NCAT, the Federal Government is going to Ogbaru in Anambra State to set up a second aviation training school. The choice of Ogbaru, is not an issue at the moment, but the essence of owning a second training school when they have not been able to fund NCAT satisfactorily? NCAT and the new school in Ogbaru should be privatised, not commercialised. They can sustain themselves and attain international recognition if the privatisation process is properly and transparently handled. It is also better to affiliate the new school in Ogbaru with Anambra State University of Technology, Uli or Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, instead of Oko Polytechnic, as proposed. REVIEW OF THE NATIONAL CIVIL AVIATION POLICY The Committee also recommended the review of the 2013 Civil Aviation Policy, a good decision, based on the premise that stakeholders will be called from all facets of the industry to make an input. I also concur, but I must also say that there are some good policies in that document that must be appreciated and sustained. I really look forward to the independent and effective economic regulatory body which will stem the drift toward predatory tendencies. NATIONAL CARRIER The Committee tried in vain to convince other conferees on the need of having another national carrier to replace the dead and improperly buried Nigeria Airways. The option was rejected and I agree in totality with the conferees. We need strong flag carriers to be built from the present carriers through a regulated consolidation process. We cannot wait for the NCAA anymore, since they lack the balls. The conferees and the National Assembly should urgently initiate the process. NIGERIAN CONTENT In consonance with the proposed National Assembly bill, the conferees are asking for an increase in Nigerian participation in operation and services. This call would be unnecessary if NCAA had lived up to its responsibility by implementing the Civil Aviation Act to the letter. If the NCAA cannot monitor and implement now, how will a bill or the Confab decision change that mentality? The Nigerian content should not be limited to personnel alone, but other operational services with the enshrined principle of reciprocity and investment. CONSTRUCTION OF PERIMETER FENCE AND ROADS The conferees also want the government as a matter of security urgency to provide perimeter fencing and roads for all airports in Nigeria. This call is necessary and timely considering the upsurge in attacks by insurgents and the ease with which stowaways get to airfields. In the PPP arrangement I advocated earlier, the perimeter fencing, AVSEC and related issues will be retained and controlled by Government, while all other revenue generating aspects of the airport should be ceded. REVIVAL OF THE ABANDONED ONITSHA CARGO AIRPORT This is simply comical and an emotional decision. Asaba airport is barely 10 minutes away, while Benin, Enugu and Owerri airports are about an hour’s drive from the proposed Onitsha Airport. Two of these airports are designated as cargo airports. The Princess of Ogbaru must have been properly briefed, for Onitsha not to have been included. The conferees should just delete this wasteful section from the report, so we can move on to other important issues. LINKAGE OF ALL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORTS TO RAIL LINES This is good and futuristic considering the huge funds needed to actualise this dream. In the interim, surface connectivity between the domestic and international terminals should be activated, while other connections within cities should be developed to ease movement and encourage tourist and transit passengers. COMPLETION OF NATIONAL HANGAR PROJECT AT UYO AIRPORT Senator Abebe must have used his influence of heading the Committee to smuggle this home grown paragraph into the report. The proponents of Uyo Airport had a business model when they initiated the project. A National Hangar was not envisioned; rather it was Uyo Hangar to generate additional revenue for the airport. The agitation for a National Hangar preceded the dream of building Uyo Airport. Yes, we need a National Hangar that will be internationally certified and recognised. It will save cost, generate revenue for the industry and develop our personnel. If Uyo Airport gets it by virtue of infrastructure, so be it. The national hanger should be privately driven and has not been designated to any airport or state.

WORLD CUP: OUR AIRLINES BYPASSED AGAIN

The world cup has started in Brazil with qualifying teams arriving proudly in their respective flag carriers or chartered aircraft domiciled in their country. On arrival, the cameras are beamed at the aircraft front exit door where the air stair is positioned and flag emblazoned. It was in excitement I watched the arrival of different countries on their respective carriers until the documentary got to our Super Eagles. I initially thought it was an error when they announced the arrival of the Nigerian team, because of the American flag proudly emblazoned on the aircraft’s fuselage. Alas, I was wrong. Shortly after, Team USA proudly touched down in an aircraft with the same flag. We have invested a lot of fortune in qualifying and preparing for this tournament, while we also lost precious lives of fans that were blown away at different viewing centres across the Northern part of the country by insurgents. In the end, it is the American and Ethiopian airlines that reaped from where their government, corporate organisations and fans did not sow. A flag, despite its simplicity, on a massive structure like an aircraft’s fuselage, seen by millions of people can eclipse an impressive aircraft design. It is an identity, mark of place, pride and strength. It is an expression of a nation’s capabilities wherever it touches down. At the last tournament in South Africa four years ago, it was providence that gave us the pride of a Nigerian carrier taking the team to the tournament. It was the only option left for Government after a foreign airline provided an aircraft much older than the oldest aircraft in Arik fleet. The aircraft broke down at the eleventh hour. A Nigerian airline that was initially overlooked redeemed our image, but we lost the funds paid to the foreign airline. To add salt to injury; the undemocratic Nigerian Football & Other Sports Supporters Club (NFSSC) that is funded perpetually with handouts from Federal Government, while also getting support from different Nigerian corporate organisations, which has also given a lifeline to the club that has a leadership model fashioned after the one used by one of our political parties called “Oga so pe” (oga said), has consistently used our home grown funds to fly foreign carriers. They recently flew two hundred supporters to Brazil on Ethiopian Airlines (ET), also bypassing our carriers like their Siamese twin, Nigeria Football Federation. A Nigerian carrier could have taken them straight to Brazil without a stopover. Our carriers are struggling financially, while the Ethiopian carrier recently declared record revenue of $2.3 billion. ET is now the most profitable carrier in Africa. The airline’s revenue is the 37th highest in the world. ET has 37 frequencies into Nigeria alone, excluding that of ASKY airline, pseudo owned by Ethiopia. The airline takes everything away from Nigeria, while investing in airlines in Togo and Malawi, bypassing our carriers in preference to the ministry of aviation extra frequencies and entries. “Nigeria ro nu” (think) A phased implementation of a “Fly Nigeria Act” is imperative for the development of the industry and reduction in capital flight. It will, by law, whip people and organisations into line to the benefit of all Nigerians.

Senate Aviaiton Committee: Playing the Ostrich

The Senate Aviation Committee recently visited the Ministry of Aviation and other agencies on a supposed oversight function. During the visit, statements were made that sounded like revelations, but those that can discern this publicity stunt garnished in a typical ostrich game know that the Committee was merely playing to the gallery. This Committee was constituted about four years ago by the Senate President and members have not changed till today. Surprisingly, they feign ignorance about the remodelling of the airports, assaulting media hype, suffocating debts, flawed procedure of awarding contracts, surreptitious concessioning of Abuja GAT and fund allocation. This is the same airspace and airports they have traversed every day, while also participating in the commissioning, contracting and receiving foreign airlines that operate into 'emotional' airports. In my last article on mergers, I stated that “FAAN is self-sustaining, if it is free from Government interference. The same organisation that is not ready for privatisation due to security threats, but can collect international facility with interest to build five new international terminals, while also revamping twenty one airports at the same time is a commercial architechural world record, in view of the perceived security threats.” The hen has come home to roost. The Committee is challenged to come clean by washing their hands like Pilate did in public before going for corrective measures. They also need to tell the Presidency to review the merging of the regulator with service providers, and also protect FAAN from Government interference, so it can run commercially as advised by the Committee. Since the Executive and Legislature have foisted the leadership of NCAA on us over the years despite our advice to allow our best legs compete through advertisement, rather than through nomination which has weakened the regulatory and autonomous prowess of the NCAA. We implore the Committee to immediately initiate a regulatory consolidation process for our airlines, by raising the bar to a minimum of seven aircrafts. The recent excitement over the granting of AOCs to three airlines , which practically limped to make the minimum regulation of two aircraft is simply appalling. Foreign airlines are all over our airspace enjoying our political cabotage, while bypassing our weak carriers due to their size, financial prowess and processes. We need to break the scale. Is it not a shame that we do not have a Nigerian carrier in IATA Clearing House and only one of them is IOSA certified, yet we have delegations with allowances that are in DOHA sitting at IATA gatherings with shoulders raised as Nigerians. The Committee should also look into manpower distribution, which is improperly skewed and bleeding the agencies dry. Rather than merge, they can cut cost drastically by restructuring and placing political employees on the appropriate scale. BASA fund has run dry and has not been used for critical safety issues as espoused by agigators who did not want it domiciled with the CBN. It was instead gulped by commercial projects. Considering the interest and passion we have for that fund, I do not see our airlines going beyond the triangular routes. The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mrs. Jamila Shua’ra should be left alone to her job, she cannot turn rocks to cash. Using a section of the media, that was in the past used to hype the transformation, to run her down, while exonerating the Supervising Minister is sheer blackmail. We have bitten more than we can chew, so let us clear the bowels before proceeding on medication. I also want to advise the Supervising Minister to limit his press statement on the projects and cargo airport, they are becoming incoherent. Lest I forget, the the Chinese contractors handling the new terminal at MMIA have erected a billboard stating clearly the client, developer and other contracting partners. This is the norm and a clear departure from the transformation remodellers, whose identities are shrouded in secrecy . The Senate Committe members did not see anything wrong, neither did they invite the Minister to the hallowed chamber to defend this anomaly. On the matter of inspectors sponsored by operators with business class tickets to inspect aircrafts, I am of the opinion that ICT, networking and professionalism have taken care of this issue worldwide. In the beginning it was acceptable, they could go and inspect. Not anymore. The rules of engagement should be given to the operators and the regulator should be diligent before giving a temporary approval that can be reversed if need be. Physical inspection is not in isolation, it is part of a process with many options,which may make it unnecessary to travel out. This option puts all liabilities and risks on the airline. Professionalism is more transparent, compared to the past, when they collected DTA and tickets from the operator - a pseudo compromise albino. Inspectors should only travel in exceptional cases at the behest of the operator. On CAT 1, there is nothing to cheer other than the 'big boy' pride and swagger along the West Coast . It is over ten years since we signed 'open skies' and four years since we attained CAT 1 certification, yet only one Nigerian airline operates scheduled flights into the US. The airline has neither increased frequency, points of entry or been winked at for code share and other commercial alliances by American carriers. It is not the fault of the Americans, but a Nigerian problem. Let us get our policy act together. I cannot end without mentioning the unfair advantage given to Ethiopian airlines and Emirates in frequencies and points of entry. The Ethiopians have four entries and a decoy in ASKY airlines, which competes with our carriers on the West Coast. They invested in a Togolese carrier, with only one point of entry, Lome, while Nigeria with four points of entry that generate a lot of revenue is not good for investment. My heart bleeds when I consider that Emirates and Ethiad from the same country has increased frequencies and points of entry, while investing in other countries with lower frequencies. This is simply aerial 'boko haram.'