Aviation


 
(NIGERIA)    
Experts Lobby for Professional Minister
Last week's sack of 20 of the 44 serving ministers in the president Yar'Adua's administration has received commendation in many quarters and the aviation industry is one of such, especially as many stakeholders and industry players have started agitating for proactivity in the industry. The presidency in a bid to strengthen his cabinet for effectiveness in service delivery carried out a cabinet shake-up last Wednesday and among the ministers affected was Felix Hassan Hyat, who used to be the supervising officer of aviation.

Stakeholders and industry watchers had already predicted that during the reshuffle, that if it took a long time coming, those who were desperate to take up the position without adequate enthusiasm for output would be affected. And most of them are of the opinion that Hyat could not steer the ship of the industry to the desired path, but felt the need to give him their support because of their love for the industry. Just recently the Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) also gave their voice in support of the president’s decision and also called for a professional for the post of the minister.

NATCA made this call in a statement signed by its secretary general, Martin Akujuobi. The group was unhappy with various things that could not be achieved because the political appointee did not fully understand the industry and said that a former minister of aviation said it himself that he knew nothing on aviation other than getting into an aircraft fastening his seat belt and flying. The statement read, “one of the major factors responsible for the worrisome trend is attributable to the issues of leadership at the level of the political class .

“It is perilous for a highly technical and safety critical sector of the nation's economy like the aviation industry to be subjected to the business as usual made of appointments into the political office of the minister”. According to the statement, persons known to be of weak background in their assigned ministries are vulnerable to mischievous misinformation and misguidance by their overzealous staff. A minister of aviation should lead the team and not be a trainee. We are tired of cadet ministers of aviation who will use their offices as training simulators and before acquiring the necessary competence for sole flight, it is already end of exercise or has the flight crashed.

The aviation industry needs a real time professional who understands the immediate and dire needs of all the sectors. We need a minister who understands the pressing need for aviation manpower development equipment replacement and effective policy formulation and regulations. They called for career professional like air traffic controllers, pilots, engineers to be government's benchmark of choosing a minister stating that these set of professionals are appropriately qualified to tackle head to head staffing in the inadequate staffing in the parastatals, problems associated with aircraft acquisition, maintenance cost, high fuel cost and other problems facing airlines.

With the air traffic controllers’ stand, the problem currently making waves in the industry is the kind of minister the Yar'Adua administration will bring to the industry as there already are apprehensions on bringing in a professional to handle the industry. Industry pressure group, aviation pressure group, aviation round table (ART) have also called on the federal government to bring in a professional to the industry. According to the secretary general of the association, government does not have a solid plan for aviation in the next 10-20 years and people who could take the industry to great height are not given any opportunity.

In the past, the many jostlers for the ministerial position has little or no experience in the industry and when they were put in position, they contributed little or nothing to the improvement of the industry. And of course being new in the industry, civil servants who are grounded in the field would want to mislead these political appointees for their own personal gains, some connive with foreign airlines to rip the nation off, others would make the minister to canvass unpopular policies that are detrimental to the growth of aviation in the country. So many deals have even given under the table like issuance of extra frequencies to foreign airlines without the minister noticing.

At one point, during the Obasanjo administration, Femi Fani Kayode had cause to draw the attention of the public to some of these problems spitting fire on some airlines including Lufthansa German airlines, Kenyan airways and Afrqiyah to mention a few. All these and many more have led the industry to the point it is now, nowhere. The president should at this point look for competent hands those who have been in the industry for some time and truly understand the industry and those who cannot be fooled with the wily tricks of the civil servants and others to man the industry. Other than that they have a long way to go in this industry especially as it involves policies.

The country currently has a lot of foreign airlines flying in the country's domestic airspace and the government has not put in place polices that will protect Nigerian flag carriers, which is wrong. In some countries a foreign airline flies in at a point and from there are close to four domestic carriers willing to take them to other destinations. In Nigeria, the matter has not been addressed as airlines fly in from various points of the country leaving the country's domestic operators starving for passengers. These, many experts feel, may aid in helping the business grow in the country and improving its less than five million per year passenger load as opposed to tourist countries that carry close to 19 and 20 million passenger for the same period of time.

Whoever will come in, professional or not will have to look seriously into the problem facing the various parastatals and make them live up to expectation and beyond. He or she as the case may be, will have to look into the parastatals in a bid to bring out performance form in them. For the Nigeria civil aviation authority (NCAA), the minister has to look into it to make sure their autonomy is intact, this will in time to come stabilize their ability to regulate the industry properly and also they should look into the act that established the parastatals, because for the NCAA to be a full regulatory authority, it should be able to regulate sister agencies, federal airports authority of Nigeria, airspace management agency (NAMA).


Med-View Airlines Set for Hajj Exercise
One of the airlines officially slated for this year's Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, Med-view airlines, has expressed its readiness to commence the airlift of 15,726 pilgrims come November 15th, 2008. The airlines also said that it has an edge over other approved carriers following the involvement of a Saudi Arabia national in its management thus becoming the second to airlift the highest number of pilgrims. According to the airline management, two Boeing 747-200 and a 767 aircraft have been positioned to ensure there is no hitch throughout the period the exercise will last.

Head of quality assurance of the airline, Lukman Animashaun, said the airline according to the slot allocated to it , is expected to airlift passengers from lagos, IIorin, Kaduna and Abuja. Under the Lagos zones are Ogun, Oyo, Edo and armed forces while under IIorin are Ekiti, Ondo. Under Kaduna are Benue and Plateau pilgrims while Abuja is to take care of pilgrims from Kogi, Abia, Delta and other South South states. Med-view grabbed the slot to airlift the second largest number of pilgrims this year based on its excellent performance during the last year exercise as it was able to finish its airlift before the deadline issued by the Saudi authorities.

The airline had earlier sent an advanced team including its head of quality assurance to put all things in order before the commencement of the exercise in earnest. The airline management has also assured government that with all the machinery it has put on ground that the airline will complete its airlift a week before the Saudi authorities close their borders. It will be recalled that the Hajj committee had to fall back on the airline last years to rescue other carriers which could not meet up with their obligations a situation which did not only embarrass government then but led to many pilgrims staying longer than expected in the holy land. The development is coming even as the airline has expressed its plans to go into scheduled domestic operations from next year.

The airline which presently operates chartered flights intends to obtain its air operators certificate from the Nigerian civil aviation authority (NCAA) to make it possible for it to operate the domestic flight next year. Among the routes the airline intends to operate when it begins domestic operations include Lagos Abuja, Maiduguri and Yola. According to the airline the choice of routes like Maiduguri and Yola was based on the fact that the routes have not been fully explored by other airlines despite the large number of passengers on the route.The airline is also not left out of the dividends of the Cape Town convention as preparations are on top gear to being in more planes..


By Jeff Oguike.


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