Flight Disruptions: Why Airlines’ Staff Disappear From Aggrieved Passengers’ Sight, By Okonkwo
The Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Prof. Obiora Okonkwo has explained that the incidents of airline staff disappearing out of the sight of aggrieved passengers when flights are disrupted by weather, sudden bird strikes, airports infrastructure or other factors beyond the airlines’ control, is to protect themselves from being physically beaten or injured by the passengers.
Speaking at the 30th Annual Conference of the League of Airport & Aviation Correspondents (LAAC), held at Providence Hotel, Lagos under the theme, Towards A Sustainable Aviation Industry: Balancing Government Revenue Demands With Sector Growth, Okonkwo admitted that there is a need for improvement in airlines management of passenger flight information but called for a reorientation of air travelers in Nigeria on their conduct in cases where there is an unforeseen challenge about scheduled flights to avoid unruly behaviour.
Okonkwo narrated an incident where passengers refused to disembark from a United Nigeria flight that was forced to return to Lagos due to heavy rain affecting Kano’s runway. He said passengers refused to leave the aircraft and spent the night on the ramp because they did not want the plane to go anywhere except back to Kano.
“If we cannot protect airline workers, who are somebody’s wives, children, sisters, and brothers, then, when there is any flight disruption, what happens? Staff disappear because nobody wants to be harmed,” he said.
He further said it is the airline operators who have a better understanding and effect of flight delays more than any other stakeholder, adding that Nigerian airlines are doing a lot to encourage air travel, including the offer of free tickets amidst high operating costs.
Okonkwo said any domestic airline ticket that costs less than N150,000.00 is a loss to the airline but that the airline goes out of its way to work out tickets of as low as N90,000.00, using various metrics.
