AON break ranks, member says ban on Emmanson for review, decision hasty, denied fair hearing

• Bernard says AON owes her apology

A senior member of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) and the President/CEO of Topbrass Aviation Limited, Roland Iyayi, said Comfort Emmanson, the passenger who assaulted an Ibom Air cabin crew member, was not given a fair hearing before the airline group slammed a no-flight ban on her.

Iyayi

Iyayi, who spoke to Aviation Metric, said that what he has seen, the airline board would review the ban, arguing that no airline has the power to be able to say an individual cannot fly their aircraft because of an infraction by a passenger on a crew member.

His comment is at variance with the position said to have been taken by the Publicity Secretary of AON and the chairman of United Airlines, Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, who released a statement on Monday hinting that AON had placed Emmanson on a life travel ban.

The AON’s position had come with flak from aviation experts, lawyers under the aegis of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and other stakeholders.

A retired pilot and former Chief Pilot of the now-defunct Associated Airlines, Capt. Muhammed Badamasi said as a private association, it lacks the legal grounds to enforce a no-fly ban.

“AON has no power to ban any passenger. They, as individual airlines, can’t. It’s the responsibility of the regulatory authorities that have such power. They can only report to the NCAA, which then determines if any sanction is necessary,” he argued.

Iyayi noted that only an aggrieved airline can place a ban on an individual, but unconscionable for any other airline to do so.

His words, “Do we have the power to be able to say you cannot fly my aircraft for the next so-so time or life? An airline can do so, but not enough for all the airlines to place her on a ban because of a case of alleged assault. It is done by the airline without even announcing it. You just see your name flagged and will not get a ticket on the airline”.

“The airline doesn’t have to announce it either. Yes, yes, they don’t announce it yet. So, for me, I think all that has happened so far, there’s been a lot of hasty decisions taken in the heat of the moment, and people have not necessarily been objective. I think with time, a lot of reviews will take place”.

The Group Managing Chairman, Finchglow Group, Mr. Bankole Bernard, said the airline no longer has any other option than to review what he described as ‘a draconian decision’ to bar her for life from air travel.

He further said that AON should see itself as an association and not a regulator, stressing that a regulator is the one that can impose a travel ban on any individual.

“The primary responsibility of the association is to bring the members together and advocate for policies that sustain the industry, not take laws into their hands and say they are banning people”.

“Did they ban K1? They didn’t. So what are we talking about? As long as they hold together an apology for the silly stand they took, there are a whole lot of wrong things. Let’s go back to the drawing board. Is the minister now the regulator?

Wole Shadare