As flight delays, cancellations and passenger unruliness become rife at airports across the country, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has summoned 13 domestic airlines to an emergency meeting in Abuja on Wednesday (tomorrow) to deliberate on the issues.
The spokesman for the Authority, Mr Michael Achimugu, disclosed this on his X.
He said among the issues to be discussed are unruly passenger behaviour and passenger handling protocols, unresolved refund/compensation issues, introduction of radio-frequency identification (RFID) bag tags and flight monitoring technology, enforcement of phone switch-off instruction and protection for cabin crew, and improved travel experience for passengers.
Achimugu said a situation where airline staff intentionally disappear, leaving NCAA consumer protection officers to handle justifiably irate and frustrated passengers, will no longer be tolerated.
“This era of leniency is over. For infractions that are sanctionable, the Authority will apply the fullest measures possible. We will not abandon the letters of our regulations,” he wrote.
“If an airline has kept passengers at the terminal up to 00hrs before cancelling a flight, they OWE their passengers hotel accommodation. The regulations stipulate that passengers stranded between the hours of 2200 and 0400 be given accommodation,” he said.
Achimugu added: “The regulations stipulate that passengers stranded between the hours of 2200 and 0400 be given accommodation.
“The situation where airline staff intentionally disappear, leaving NCAA Consumer Protection Officers to handle justifiably irate and frustrated passengers will no longer be tolerated.
“While one understands the challenges that operators face in our peculiar operating environment, whoever willfully ventures into a business and wants to remain in it must do it well.
“We must not always choose the easy way out. Don’t you want to be called “world class”? Don’t you want to compete at the highest level? If not for the sake of the passengers who trust you to safely fly them, what about for your own pride?”
However, he said “while one understands the challenges that operators face in our peculiar operating environment, whoever willfully ventures into a business and wants to remain in it must do it well.
Meanwhile, he said the federal government had given the go-ahead to name and shame airlines that commit infractions.
