By Dickson Omobola
Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, has directed the country’s largest airline, Air Peace, to come up with a compensation package for Lagos-Enugu passengers whose flight was disrupted this morning.
The directive came after human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, lodged a complaint with the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, on X, formerly Twitter.
Effiong, who was scheduled to travel on the 6:45 am Air Peace flight from Lagos to Enugu, said the disruption had affected his scheduled court appearance in Enugu State.
His words: “My day has been disrupted. We cannot continue to excuse and ignore the irresponsibility and crass impunity of Air Peace in this country. Mr Allen Onyema possibly believes that because he has the largest fleet of aircraft, and his company occasionally intervenes in the repatriation of stranded Nigerians abroad, that gives him the latitude to take passengers for granted endlessly.
“I am scheduled to appear in court in Enugu State this morning for a case that is slated for definite hearing. I woke up by 4:30 am and got to MM1 at about 5:50 am, hoping to join the 6:45 a.m. flight with Air Peace. I already checked in last night.
“I became suspicious when Air Peace called for only passengers who were supposed to fly to Enugu and Owerri yesterday, while passengers scheduled to depart today were asked to wait. Apparently, they cancelled yesterday’s flight to Enugu.
“Air Peace kept us on the line for about an hour before their staff came and casually told us that the flight had been delayed till 4:50 p.m.
“At 2:01 a.m. today, Air Peace sent a second reminder to passengers, despite knowing that the flight was not going to depart as scheduled. It is sickening that this airline has persisted in its poor service delivery despite routine complaints by passengers.
“The regulators of the aviation industry are complicit in the impunity of Air Peace. TMinister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, has been doing PR for this airline instead of holding them accountable.
“NCAA and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, have demonstrated that they’re incapable of tackling the arrogance of this airline. My client’s fate is now uncertain because of the irresponsibility of Air Peace. I met two learned colleagues who were equally billed to travel on the same flight. One of them also has a hearing this morning in Enugu.
“Unfortunately, the two other airlines that fly to Enugu from Lagos, United Nigeria and Enugu Air, only have afternoon flights today. I lost sound sleep, wasted my resources on flights and taxis (by the way, I already booked my return flight with United Nigeria slated for 3:20 p.m. today), and I am going to miss a sensitive court appearance.”
Reacting on X, Achimugu stated: “This flight was disrupted because of the ripple effect of last night’s disruptions. The airline ought to have sent notifications to passengers scheduled to fly this morning (your flight), informing them that the flight had been rescheduled.
“A senior management staff claimed that passengers were informed. On the contrary, you said that the notification you received was to come early for the flight. You sent me a screenshot of that notification.
“The Station Manager and Duty Manager have confirmed that the message sent out was the one you received, and that it was done in error. They admit that passengers on your flight should have been notified about the rescheduling.
“The airline claims to have taken affected passengers on your flight to a hotel, where they will be provided care until it is time to board for the flight. We are still trying to confirm this.
“We have asked that the airline, in compliance with Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023, come up with a compensation package for affected passengers and let us know in good time.
“This was an unfortunate episode. Timely and honest information is key, and there was a gap in this regard. As much as the NCAA protects the rights of operators, too, we will hold all stakeholders to account where necessary. Sending the wrong notification was not a force majeure incident.
“The way regulations work is, if the airline does the needful by way of compensation and duty of care to affected passengers, they will not be sanctioned. If the duty is not done, then there will be heavy sanctions imposed for this incident.”
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