By Chinelo Obogo

 

“Flight delays, cancellations, violations by airlines and unruly passenger behaviour have reached an alarming level in the past few months”.

This was the submission of the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Capt. Chris Najomo during a recent stakeholder meeting with airlines in Lagos.

During the meeting, he said that out of 10,804 flights operated in September and October this year, 5,225 were delayed, and 190 were cancelled. Giving a further breakdown of the data, he said in September 2024, 5,291 domestic flights were operated with 2,434 delays and 79 cancellations, while in October 2024, 5513 flights were operated with 2,791 delays and 111 cancellations recorded.

He said in the past week, he had received calls from the presidency and most recently from the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, demanding to know why there has been a spike in flight disruptions. He then said that though sometimes, delays and cancellations are inevitable, poor administration and communication from the airlines when these disruptions occur, has far-reaching effects and that it is the responsibility of every operator to ensure that whenever there is a disruption, whether due to operational, technical, or weather-related challenges, the situation is handled with professionalism and consideration for passengers’ rights, especially during this harmattan season where poor weather conditions that will affect flight operations.

The Managing Director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Olubunmi Kuku who was mart of the stakeholder meeting, urged airlines to always provide timely information and feedback to FAAN for proactive planning and coordinated efforts to mitigate disruptions. She said the challenges faced at airports are mainly due to communication issues, such as the lack of accurate flight information from airlines to relay to passengers, which she said can lead to frustration and violent behavior. She emphasised the need for better coordination and information sharing between FAAN and the airlines, to ensure smoother operations.

“I think the critical challenge we are having is more around communication. I do want to say that we are all aware of the frustration that passengers have and while those frustrations manifest into inappropriate behavior, inappropriate behavior should not and will not be tolerated and the DG and I are on the same stance on that. At the same time, we do need to give information and feedback because what happens is even FAAN does not usually have accurate timing of when your flights will take off. Yes, we understand that there might be operational issues. You may have had delays during the day, but we have nothing to communicate to the passengers. A lot of times, even the airline staff at the check-in gates does not have the data. If our officers on the ground have information, we can try to communicate and pacify.

“If the flight is not going to take off today and it is tomorrow, let them know at three o’clock. Not that I have waited at the airport till 7, 8, 9 p.m., especially for people who may not have homes to return to or airports where they are actually outside of the city center. So we understand your challenges but better collaboration, communication, information, and planning are important,” Kuku said.

Responding to the NCAA and FAAN CEOs, the chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema, who was present, said the blame for flight disruptions should not be put on the airlines as many of the factors responsible are beyond their control. While acknowledging that while no airline is perfect, he said the accusations against them are often exaggerated and not reflective of reality. He highlighted the challenges of communicating with people whom he believes have been sponsored to cause disruption.

He said passengers claim they did not receive messages about their flights, it is often because they bought their tickets through third parties or did not check their mail, insisting that the majority of passengers usually receive the necessary information of flight delays or cancellations. 

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