Nigerian Flight Deck Travel and Business Reportage
THE Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has raised with serious concern, the unrestrained violent attacks on airline staff and facilities at the various airports by passengers over flight delays or cancellation and has called for a cessation.
This is coming following a recent video of an attack on staff of Arik Air over flight delays or cancellation and many other such incidents that have happened within the month.
The body in a statement to the media said,”We feel the pain and frustration of travelers over delayed or cancelled flights due to the disruptions such bring to their plans, and make good to remind the travelling public that no airline operator deliberately delays or cancels flights because the aircraft is meant to be in the air and not on ground.
“Aircraft on ground, which is a huge loss to operators and impacts negatively on the economy of our dear country, is, however, mostly, for safety and so many reasons outside the control of operators. For this reason, AON has been at the front of seeking more effective ways to mitigate factors that cause flight delays and huge economic losses to the country. READ MORE: Domestic airlines list 16 reasons for flight delays, cancellations; chides Senate over foreign airline remarks
“However, we believe that the trend of violent attacks on airline staff and facilities has to stop. There have been instances where airline staff have been physically injured by passengers. Airline property running into millions of naira have also been destroyed by passengers.
“Those airline staff and facilities are not cause of flight delays. They are also human beings, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters etc., working to earn a living and put food on the table for their families.
“Violent attacks on airline staff, occasioning physical harm, is not a civilized and matured way for passengers to register their disappointments over flight delays or cancellations.
The AON said there are better ways to register their anger and frustration which are also spelt out by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) in its manuals stating that: “Passengers can also pursue their rights through the Consumer Protection Council.
“We are also worried that these violent attacks and destruction of property at our airports go a long way to cause disruption of operations, insinuate lack of adequate security at the airports and further impugn the image of our dear country. READ MORE: Flight delays and cancellations: A broader, truer perspective – Captain Ibrahim K. Mshelia
“We therefore use this medium to call on the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), to improve security across the airports especially, as it relates to security of airline staff and property.
“AON will no longer sit back and watch these violent attacks go on unrestrained. Passengers ought also to be informed that airline staff have rights and can use available legal means to enforce those rights and seek redress. Going forward, our members may have to explore this option as no one is permitted, by law, to take laws into their hands. We therefore call for immediate end this trend.
“We restate the commitment of our members to do all that is humanly possible to minimize incidences of flight delays and cancellations and remain focused on on-time flight operations and strongly condemn further violent attacks on airline staff and facilities.”
