Violations: Keyamo directs NCAA to start public shaming of airlines

By Dickson Omobola

Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, has directed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, to commence the public shaming of airlines that flout aviation regulations.

In an X post yesterday, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at NCAA, Mike Achimugu, said airlines that kept passengers stranded at terminals until midnight before cancelling flights owed them hotel accommodation in line with the law.

He said: “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?”

He said NCAA officials could not be exposed to avoidable risks while only discharging their duties to support airlines and protect passengers’ rights.

Achimugu said for sanctionable infractions, the authority would apply “the fullest measures possible” and would not abandon the letters of its regulations.

“The federal government has instructed that airlines be named and shamed by the NCAA. While we have done our best to advise per solutions to flight disruptions and why not nearly all cases are the fault of the airlines, the NCAA expects that operators must comply with the regulations in the event of a disruption.

“In compliance with the directives from the federal government and the minister of aviation and aerospace development, the naming and shaming will commence,’’ he added.

Recall that on January 31, 2024, Keyamo had said the ministry would start publishing delayed or cancelled flights by domestic airlines but was quick to add that airlines could not be sanctioned by suspending their operations.

According to him, the issue is a delicate one which must be handled with care to avoid discouraging potential investors.

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