FAAN upbeat as it sets to absorb three more state-owned airports

• To review more concessions, says staff attitude led to them

FEDERAL Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is set to absorb another three state-owned airports under its wings and is considering ways of making more airports viable as it is not economically feasible to run an organization of 22 airports where only two are viable.

The airport managers have also identified staff attitude to work as a reason for most of the concessions  within the organization stating that with  over 8, 000 staff strong, the airport managers should have no need for concessionaires if everyone was optimally performing, especially those in the Commercial Department.

Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu,  made these known on Thursday at Ota, Ogun State at a three day FAAN Unions Conference 2020 with the theme: ‘Collective Bargaining: A Tool for Superior Organizational Performance.’

According to the FAAN helmsman, the airport managers have written bodies including the National Tourism board, Airline Operators of Nigeria and other stakeholders to tinker ideas that would make the airports viable.

Yadudu said, majority of the airports are not viable and are basically siphoning off the Murtala Muhammed Airport and occasionally, Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport and Port Harcourt Airports stating that the airport authority cannot be running the organization on two viable airports

“We have written to some outside bodies to work with us, National Tourism board, Airline Operators of Nigeria, foreign airlines with aim of getting a committee that will help us get many of our airports viable. Our primary source of revenue is just Lagos and maybe Abuja and Port Harcourt; we cannot be effectively running an organization as big as FAAN based on two airports.”

“We are going to get three more airports within the next few weeks, three more already confirmed. So we have to set up a committee to explore ways to make them viable,” he said.

Note already that FAAN consists of 22 airports of which no fewer than four are major earners and with the three new airports coming under FAAN’s purview it brings the number to 25 airports with states like Ekiti, Anambra and others indicating plans to build airports despite airports like Ondo, Asaba, Imo and Enugu around these airports and not all thriving.

Meanwhile the FAAN boss decried that the despite the agency having about 8,000 staff majority of the workers were not willing to work, stressing that same unwillingness led to concessioning to avoid diversion of funds, from the revenue points of the agency to concessionaires.

He specifically mentioned a particular airport, which he said had 49 staff in a department, but most of the workers were done by casual workers and called for attitudinal change for its staff, stressing that without this, the industry, which is based on the tripod of security, safety and comfort would not attain its desired status.

He said: “We have a lot of staff and personally, I want to reduce the amount of concessions we have so that we can put more people to work. Just as we want to do that, we also need to deal more with our people, especially those who don’t want to work.

“We have 8,000 personnel. We have the number in FAAN, but we don’t have the men and women to do it. In fact, 8,000 is more than enough, with 6,000 workers, we can do all we need to do, but the men and women that will deliver, and we don’t have them.

“There is a particular airport, we have about 49 staff in a particular department there, but unfortunately, most of the works are being done by casuals. So, where are the others? So, people must change their attitude to work.”