Analysts: Regular performance update I’ll improve airlines’ performance

• ‘Why Nigerian carriers may not attract int’l interline partnership’

Despite the furore that greeted the executive summary of flight operations in Nigeria in 2024 released last week by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) that highlighted airlines’ huge flight delays, cancellations and gross poor service, analysts are of the view that regular update of such traffic data and reports would help to make airlines improve their services.

This is coming as the Chief Executive Officer of Berlujane Konsult, Mr. Chris Azu Aligbe lamented that the almost 50% on the average by virtually all the airline in the area of flight delays and cancellations coupled with huge number of baggage loss are testaments to one of the reasons international carriers are reluctant to enter into interline partnership with the country’s carriers, describing what is playing out as horrendous.

Some carriers like Ibom Air and Green Africa disputed the figures, saying the number of flights they operated last year was at variance with the record of the NCAA.

Green Africa on its part said its August 2024 performance shows 456 scheduled flights, with 453 operated, 53 delayed, and four canceled but expressed surprise that the NCAA’s data for the same month reported 416 operated flights, 101 delays, and four cancellations for the airline.

Ibom Air in what it termed the ‘Authentic Figures’ said the carrier operated 9,155 flights, , 1977 delay recorded, 1, 365, 427 flight cancelled.

Statistics show that one out four flights is at the risk of a delay of outright cancellations. The country’s airline business appears to be in a total mess for which the recently released data hopes to address.

One airline that has continued to surprise many is Arik Air which has been in the eyes of the storm since the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) took over the carrier over in 2016. The carrier is improving by the day.

Aligbe, while speaking with Aviation Metric said the country’s carriers may continue to find it extremely difficult to attract foreign interline partnership because of many of the ills bedeviling the carriers as regards horrendous schedule integrity. urging them to up the ante.

His words, “I applaud what NCAA is doing. I am not saying that their data is foolproof but beyond complaints, airlines should go back to the drawing board. There was a year Delta Airlines was sanctioned by FAA as the highest culprit in baggage handling. When they published it, Delta reacted immediately by appraising their system and in one year, Delta turned the entire thing around and became number one in baggage handling. Delta baggage handling became number one in the world”.

““This is what the airlines should do. The things that happen in the airline sector do not allow you to know when they are telling the truth. That is the problem. The airlines are not giving you the comfort to say yes, the airlines are telling the truth. They themselves should be publishing their performances.”

He urged NCAA not to wait for one year to publish airlines’ performances, stressing that should be done every month.

“They should publish the data every month and they should include the flight time, the scheduled departure and number of minutes or hours they delay. They should have it on a monthly basis. That is what the NCAA should be publishing. If an airline is disputing it, they should bring out the details. If 50% of airlines’ flights are delayed, it is horrendous.

“Although, it is not all airlines that do this, some airlines may be doing better than the others but the average is 50% delay or cancellations and that is why our airlines will not attract foreign partners to interline with them because of carrier liability. They should up the ante”, he added.

The Secretary-General of Aviation Safety Round Table (ASRT), Mr. Olumide Ohunayo said irrespective of the furore the report generated, he lauded the aviation regulatory body.

He urged the agency to make the report available on a monthly or bi-weekly basis and not wait for a whole year to put the carriers on their toes.

“The ball is now in the airlines’ court and this begins to tell about the performance of each airline. For the huge delays recorded by the airlines, that is critical. We should not dump the delays and cancellations on the airlines. There are other factors that are causing delays for the airlines. The airlines also need to speak up.”

“That is why I said that rather than wait for end of the year, we need to release the report bi-weekly or monthly. This helps everyone to adjust. It will make everyone buckle up and also help the customers to know which airline has the tendency to delay your flight beyond the time allowed for flight operation. The data released is good for everybody”.

Wole Shadare