Dana Air said it has received the final aircraft accident report released by Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and gone beyond the safety recommendations.
The spokesman for the airline, Mr. Kingsley Ezenwa stated this in Abuja when he received on behalf of the airline the Leadership Brand of the year 2016 award instituted by Leadership Newspapers.
“We have received the report and the recommendations have been implemented since 2013. We have also passed rigorous audits conducted by a couple of credible organizations including the Flight Safety Group – the foreign partners of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
“We have gone beyond the recommendations and we set an enviable standard that we review on a daily basis. Let me also mention that last year, in furtherance of our efforts to continue to recruit qualified Nigerian Pilots, we turned down the employment of some pilots who didn’t meet the standards we have set even after their training. The investment in their training didn’t really matter to us but the standard that we have set,” he said.
He said the airline employed 45 Nigerian pilots in 2014 and invested heavily in their training.
“Our director of flight operations is a Nigerian with over 27 years experience and our accountable manager is also a Nigerian with over 30 years experience in aircraft maintenance, fleet management, quality and safety, and network planning. We have retooled a lot from our fuel audits to engineering and crewing. Our safety strategies are novel and world-class and our commitment to the safety and comfort of our guests is unwavering,” he said.
Commenting on the award, Ezenwa said: “We want to appreciate Leadership Group for this award. It just shows that people appreciate the effort we have put in to offer the best of services to our teeming guests.
We are unrelenting in our determination to ensure that our on-time performance remains unrivaled, and continue to offer our customers the best of in-flight and customer service. This is a clear nod for us to do more and we won’t disappoint,” he said.
Also speaking, the chairman of Leadership Group, Mr. Sam Nda-Isaiah said Dana Air got the award for successfully pulling through the harsh operating environment, its consistency, and creating a brand synonymous with customer satisfaction in the ever-challenging aviation sector.
He explained that Leadership Conference and Awards is a yearly event organized to celebrate individuals and corporate organizations that have distinguished themselves in their different areas of operation.
“Our choices are not influenced in anyway and our nominations go through rigorous and painstaking debates. Sometimes we fall into a dilemma and end of choosing more than one for a category but this is good as it shows that these individuals and organizations are doing really well,” he said.
