What Domestic Flight Delays, Cancellations Entail In Nigeria

The rate of flight delays and cancellations by local airlines in Nigeria has become understandably alarming. This has made it necessary to beam a searchlight on the circumstances surrounding such occurrences and the serious effect they leave with the passenger as well as the airlines.

Passengers check in for a particular scheduled flight. At a point, the check-in counter is closed for boarding. This is about 45 minutes before departure time (depending on the airline). The passenger manifest, weight and balance information, flight plan and other essentials are taken to the pilot. The pilot examines the documents before him and discovers that in loading the aircraft, the maximum allowable weight has been exceeded and the Centre of Gravity (CG) is not within the permitted flight envelope. This is not anybody’s deliberate making. The next action is to reduce the aircraft weight by either off-loading passengers (in the case where passengers are already boarded), cargo or fuel or by adjusting the load to ensure it remains within the aircraft’s operational limits.

This scenario was not anticipated, takes time to sort out and could even result in shifting the flight departure time.

The pilot could call the attention of the Engineer to a technical issue he just observed. If it is a fault that cannot be addressed urgently or could constitute a safety threat, that flight might eventually be cancelled totally.

If there, pilot gets report that the weather at the destination airport would not be favourable as at the scheduled time for arrival or weather is even not good for departure, the pilot has to wait for an improved weather condition.

After boarding passengers in an aircraft for a scheduled flight departure; from nowhere, the forklift of a ground handling company damages the door or luggage compartment of the parked aircraft, that aircraft cannot depart if the damage is severe.

When there is a bird strike at the point of taxiing, take-off or minutes after take-off, the result will definitely be either an air return, a further delay or outright cancellation of that flight.

Some airports in Nigeria are sunset airports and would not be operational after 18:00hrs. After being delayed by some of the factors mentioned earlier, and the airline before departure, foresees that as at arrival time, the destination airport will not be open for landing, there is no alternative than to reschedule the flight for another day.

While either of these scenarios are playing out, the passenger at the waiting lounge is wondering why he or she cannot be boarded into another aircraft of same airline. After all, he can see many planes operating. This is difficult. Why?

When passengers are booking flights online or at the counter, they already have seat numbers allocated on the aircraft. The scheduled airline has designated aircraft for specific flights. For instance, the airline has deployed aircraft A for Lagos-Abuja-Owerri-Lagos flight, departing 07:30hrs. Aircraft B is to operate Lagos-Owerii-Lagos flight, departing at 07:40hrs. If aircraft A develops issues resulting in delays, it has no business with passenger and aircraft prepared for B flight. Besides, aircraft B is not headed for Abuja at all and the agitating passenger on A is supposed to arrive Abuja. How can this work?

This takes us to unruly passenger behaviour. Because of the violent way many Nigeria air travelers react to news about flight delays and cancellations, which includes beating up airline staff, making and posting videos for social media reactions (as if that would solve the problem), damaging check-in facilities, and so on, when this challenge occurs sometimes, airline staff are afraid to approach the passenger for a discussion about what is happening and possible options of alternatives.

In some cases, information about flight schedule, delay or cancellation is disseminated via Short Message Service (SMS) or wassap on mobile phones. Unfortunately, when the phone contact use by passenger for booking his or her flight is that of a relative rather than the passenger, and the passenger is not in possession of the phone, such passenger may be at the airport without receiving same information  that was passed to fellow passengers on the booked flight. This leaves the passenger with avoidable tension and sometimes, violent altercation with airline staff.

How is flight delay and cancellation handled in other climes? At some airports, there is a screen board where the passengers read information concerning changes in flight schedule. When such changes (which happen in Europe, America and other places) occur, the passenger does not have any relevant individual to vent anger on there at the airport. A violent physical reaction at an airport could attract arrest by airport security irrespective of the personality involved. This is not the case with Nigeria.

As a pilot gets set to taxi the aircraft for departure, the air traffic control could ask him to hold on for a particular VIP movement. The implication of this is that because of the period spent on the VIP stuff, the aircraft will not arrive its destination at exactly the scheduled arrival time. This disrupts the entire schedule for that day.

By the way, one minute delay of departure time of an aircraft’s first scheduled flight for the day, disrupts the entire schedule for that day. This could lead to a carry-over effect into the next day and it could take an airline several days or weeks to reposition for On-Time-Departure, if numerous external factors keep causing delays and cancellations every other day.

Most decisions about flight cancellations and delays are taken in the interest of flight safety and no airline enjoys this because it works against their economic interest.

The negative effect of flight delays and cancellations on an air traveler is unquantifiable whenever it occurs. In fact, these days, many domestic air travellers in Nigeria fly only because they don’t have an alternative. Due to recurring cases of poor passenger service, flight delays and cancellations by some local airlines, many travelers that hitherto did, no longer look forward to air travel. They are simply discouraged. After all, of what use is air travel if it amounts to inability to plan your day, meetings and life?

So, Nigeria’s local airlines must remember that they cannot exist if there are no passengers. There is need for the much talked about partnerships with one another so as to minimize effect of delays and cancellations on passengers.

They must also match their number of routes with aircraft volume and destination with aircraft type. This is why Air Peace must be commended for its recent decision to set aside three airplanes daily as buffer against flight delays and cancellations, even though this is not a normal practice in airline business because it amounts to wastage of limited resources of airlines that allegedly, barely make profits.

Whenever there is a need for ticket refunds, airlines must effect such refunds as speedily as possible. Customer relations and communication should also improve because the customer is king in business.

On communication of developments to passengers, Nigeria’s airlines need to commence enlightenment of their passengers on how to handle such disappointments and and how flight delays and cancellations work. Knowledge is power and empowering passengers with such information will help their mental health, encourage their patronage and minimize unruly passenger behaviour.

Whenever passengers feel their rights have been violated by any airline, they should file reports with the Consumer Protection Unit of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) whose duty it is to investigate such incidents. An airline should be sanctioned if it is established that such airline failed to do the right thing.

Passengers should also ensure that the phone contacts they use for flight booking are handy, in case there is need for airlines to pass information.

Weather problem is beyond human control but the issues of sunset airports constraint, poor landing facilities at some airports, bird strikes and other infrastructure challenges should be addressed by Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigeria Airspace Management (NAMA) and NCAA to help reduce the menace of flight delays and cancellations, that produce unruly passenger behaviour which sometimes creates additional delays and cancellations when angry passengers disrupt airport operations.

Security agencies at Nigeria’s airports should also do their jobs in the interest of safety and security and punishment for unruly passenger behavior should be enforced.