The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has warned airlines to improve their service delivery and adhere to aviation regulations to curb the growing menace of flight disruptions.
The Acting Director General of Civil Aviation, Captain Chris Najomo, gave the warning during a stakeholders’ meeting in Lagos with the theme: “Finding Lasting Solutions to Flight Disruptions.”
He stressed that delays and cancellations have significant implications for passengers, businesses, and national development.
Captain Najomo, stated that the meeting was prompted by a rise in passenger complaints about issues such as flight delays, cancellations and delayed luggage, among others.
Speaking on the scale of the issue, Captain Najomo revealed alarming statistics In September 2024, domestic airlines operated 5,291 flights, with 2,434 delays and 79 cancellations.
According to him, the following month, 5,513 flights were recorded, with delays rising to 2,791 and cancellations reaching 111.
While acknowledging that some disruptions are unavoidable due to factors like weather, Najomo emphasized that poor management of such events is unacceptable.
He called on airlines to handle disruptions professionally and prioritize passengers’ rights, especially during the harmattan season, when adverse weather conditions are prevalent.
“If you have ten flights, trim it down and leave one aircraft on standby to go seamless. If you have problems, let the CPO’s of NCAA know on time, let FAAN AVSEC know on time, if you want to do everything on your own, it will escalate and that is what is happening” he stressed.
The NCAA boss also urged all domestic airlines to migrate to the NCAA complaint portal to help identify where they are having issues and give the needed assistance.
In his part, the Vice President of the Airline Operators of Nigeria, AON, Mr. Allen Onyema, identified weather, inadequate infrastructure, and unruly passenger behavior as major causes of flight disruptions.
He urged aviation agencies to address the issue of unruly passengers, who, in some cases, vandalize airline property and assault staff.
“Because if you delay one flight for weather related issues for safety sake, the same passengers will be instigated to come back at you and disrupts about four or other five flights of yours”.
Also the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mrs. Olubunmi Kuku, assured stakeholders that efforts are ongoing to improve airport infrastructure.
She warned that the agency would no longer tolerate unruly passenger behavior and announced plans to prosecute offenders.
“To start behaving in a manner that is demeaning to colleagues, demeaning to airline staff and to the airport, we will not tolerate, we will prosecute, we will put you on a No Fly list and a blacklist and make sure that you are prosecuted for any criminal actions”.
Aviation agencies reiterated their commitment to monitoring and enforcing industry standards to protect the integrity of Nigeria’s aviation sector.
Stakeholders collectively agreed on the need to rebuild confidence in air travel and ensure better service delivery for passengers.
The meeting concluded with a call for collaboration among all stakeholders to restore pride in the country’s air transport system.
