Aviation: Exemplary Efforts Towards Protecting Nigerian Passengers

I’m not much of a traveller, especially foreign travels, having done that as a much younger person. But my recent trip on a direct flight on Egyptair to Cairo put me through a very exhausting, debilitating and frustrating experience.

Apologies to Egyptair; their services, cabin crew, in-flight cuisine and promptness were top notch. But the treatment of passengers, specifically Nigerian passengers by aviation or airport officials once we arrived at Cairo Airport was dehumanising to me, to say the least.

Nobody wanted to be of any assistance. Our travel documents were handled differently and after a long flight, we were kept waiting for as long as the flight time from Nigeria to Cairo, just to get cleared to proceed to the city from the airport. I met a Nigerian official who was also kept for hours, despite being in touch with the Nigerian Embassy. Egypt is a fine country don’t get me wrong, and my trip was quite a successful one, but my experience made me appreciate what the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authorities (NCAA) did for a Nigerian passenger who was on a flight that was part of her return trip from Manchester to Lagos, via Paris and Nairobi. She went through a very nauseating and humiliating experience, and her humiliation made me reflect on my recent trip, and how it was remarkable, and quite impressive, the way succour came her way courtesy of the NCAA in far away Nairobi.

Gloria Omisore was put in a Kenyan Airways flight from Lagos, without checking that she didn’t have a transit visa to France, and was flown to Nairobi. After a 17-hour lay over, she was then informed again that she had to wait for another 10 hours before she could be flown to the UK. She needed care for the 10-hour extra stay as she was bleeding and needed care. She ended up being maltreated by the airline officials who handled her poorly, leading to her vexation and angry expressions.

Their demeanour definitely reeks of poor customer care culture. The incident highlighted the airlines’ several cases of unpaid refunds, missing or lost baggage without compensation, and failure to honour several commitments, mostly bothering on poor handling of customer issues and infringements.

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The NCAA moved to initiate enforcement actions against Kenyan Airways, after they stalled on their official statements, avoiding any blame or responsibility for the actions of their officials. The passenger was on that flight when she wasn’t supposed to be cleared for it, and they were punishing her for their lack of professionalism.

Eventually, Kenya Airways apologised, admitted their mistakes and the very poor and abhorrent manner in which they handled the passenger, and flew her to her destination. I’m not certain about the details of her compensation, but I was keen about Gloria reaching home, and getting due apologies from the airline. I was going through very tough air travel experiences and my heart was in my mouth and I was intensely nervous, as Gloria went through that very tortuous experience. It could happen to me. Well, I was impressed by the NCAA, and the actions of the director for Consumer Protection and Public Affairs, Michael Achimugu, who was on his toes 24/7. He was on call through the entire ordeal, while also updating us on the details to the resolution of the infringement. My attention to the Gloria case intimated me about similar cases of passenger infringements both locally and internationally, and how the agency was able to enforce refunds and many other compensations and redresses.

I’ve seen the aviation minister personally handle a similar case where Nigerian passengers got stranded in Lome, Togo, by Airfrance. The Paris Abuja inbound flight that couldn’t land due to the bad weather in Abuja was diverted to Lome. The airline decided that they were going to leave them in Lome till the following day, while the same flight that took them to Lome, was exiting to Abuja, as the weather cleared. The minister promptly placed a call himself to the country manager of Airfrance and the Airfrance headquarters, stating clearly that the passengers must be returned by the same flight to Nigeria, or risk being treated in line with best international standards.

The days of anything goes in the way airlines treat Nigerian passengers are fast waning away. I noticed that Airs Peace sent me reminders upon updates of my flight delays to Lagos, expressing how very sorry they were over the delays due to unscheduled maintenance issues that had to be carried out.

Honestly, it’s a lot better when the authorities’ responsiveness is immediate and guaranteed. So many airlines have recently been grounded, and some fined hugely for one infraction or the other. Passenger refunds are coming through as well, and if you do not get your rightful refund, it’s because you haven’t reached Festus Keyamo’s X handle, or NCAA officials who are just a click away.

Our aviation industry is being policed properly, and airlines are finally being held accountable. In that I am well pleased. I was awed by the ambience of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and if I had not taken an Uber, I wouldn’t have found my way to the departure halls of the airport. The ambience was exciting, the automation stupefied me a bit, and I started taking pictures right there from our own airport. The aviation minister should work on replicating this kind of facility in every of the six geo-political zones of the country. Lagos and Abuja are covered already I guess. I’ll be watching this sector closely now, as my recent experience has taught me not to be aloof about these very vital sectors.