INDUSTRY Think tank group, the Aviation Round Table ( ART) has called on government to be cautious in their approach of establishing the proposed national carrier and charged the committee directed to midwife the process to avoid influencing the process emotionally.
The group made this known in a statement made available to Nigerianflightdeck.com stating that they were not comfortable with the use of government agency chiefs to set up the carrier.
ART stated that it would like to see a minimal involvement of Government in the process .
The statement in part read,” ART knows that an ideal national carrier must be domestically registered with support and encouragement of the citizens through the objective actions of government irrespective of party affiliation.”
“The ART is not in sync with the committee made up of Government agency heads to midwife the process of setting up the proposed National Carrier. We as professionals in the industry are advising a cautious approach to this project.”
“The probability of the directed committee’s emotional influence on the finished product is not very encouraging. We would perhaps encourage not just a minimal involvement of Government in the process but also her restriction to establishing a level playing field for the Nigerian public’s participation as investors.”
On seeking out professionals to manage the carrier when it comes into being, the ART said that managerial challenges were a reason previous attempts failed.
“If and when as expected, this process goes ahead towards the finish line, it would be helpful to consider the employment of reputable headhunters in the nomination of even the startup management team as “management challenges” played a prominent role in the demise of previous failed attempts.”
“It is also noted that the concurrent missteps of participation in the past, contributed to make such projects a mirage. we expect government to carefully and transparently work out the involvement of operating local airlines that may be seriously considered.”
“ART’s position is patriotic and so geared toward avoiding the possible colossal and usual loss of both revenue and man hours from our commonwealth as experienced with the past unguided attempts. Whichever way it goes, we wish our dear country Nigeria the very best.”
