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Passengers’ behaviour, the major cause of flight delays in Nigeria- Onyema
The Chairman and CEO of Air Peace Limited, Dr Allen Onyema, has said that passengers’ behaviour constitutes major cause of flight delays in Nigeria.
According to him, these delays results to huge financial losses by airlines, which the industry estimated to be about N15 billion annually.
Onyema, quoting the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), said airlines contribute little to the cause of flight delays, but in Nigeria, beside weather, VIP movement and technicality (Aircraft on Ground (AOG), passengers’ behaviour is major cause of delays and cancelled flights because Nigerian travellers have not embraced the culture of rescheduling when flights are cancelled, a policy that follows international standards and recommended practices.
According to Onyema, the insistence of passengers whose flights are cancelled to be airlifted first the following day gives rise to disruption of flights, which snowballs into weeks of delays and cancellations.
Onyema explained that airlines schedule the number of flights that must be operated by each aircraft but when a previous flight is cancelled, passengers’ insistence that they must be airlifted first before the airline operates its normal schedule disrupts flight operations, adding that what passengers whose flight are cancelled must do is to reschedule their flights in accordance with the existing airline schedule.
In doing so, he said subsequent flights will not be disrupted while delays and cancellations will drastically minimise, even as he insisted that this is the system that is operated in other parts of the world, except in Nigeria.
He said, “Let me tell you why delays and cancellations will persist in this country. Number one, apart from safety, security, weather and other issues, there is unruly passenger behavior, a misunderstanding of how airlines’ scheduled operations are supposed to be run. This is major cause of flight delays.
“When weather is the cause of the delay or leads to cancellation at the end of the day, it is not the business of the airline to fly the passenger whose flight was cancelled first thing the next morning, no. All over the world, aviation is the same.
“The convention is, the passenger is expected to reschedule to the next available date. That is how it is done. In Nigeria, you want to fly, and you have three hours delay because of weather. And the time weather clears, you want to go in, and there is airport closure, because most of the airport don’t run at night. And the passenger will tell you, even though you put us in hotel, we will be the first ones to fly in the morning. It is not done like that, you reschedule to the next available date, because it is called scheduled flight operations.”
He said what happens is that in Nigeria, in the morning, those ones that could not fly the previous day will be the first you are going to fly and when you do this, you have disrupted the schedule of that morning.
“Each aircraft does about six to eight flights a day, so, it is not only one disruption. You are talking about massive eight flights disrupted for that day. I will give you an example. The other day we were flying into Warri, we could not land because of weather. The pilot hovered for about 15 minutes, but for safety he diverted to Enugu because Benin was also covered by bad weather. They stayed on ground in Enugu for about an hour or two, then the weather cleared. the aircraft was fueled. The weather cleared for them to take off to Warri but the Warri airport was closed because it is a sunset airport.
“The pilot announced the closure of the airport because it is a sunset airport and said that the flight would return to base, which is Abuja. With that announcement there was pandemonium everywhere, as the passengers started protesting against that decision. They brought the aircraft down and the captain was almost crying. They kept that aircraft on ground in Enugu for four hours. They said we should put them in a hotel in Enugu. Why should I put you in a hotel in Enugu? Did I create the weather? Did I create the airport? That was a force majeure,” Dr Onyema said.
The Air Peace chief also explained that the aircraft which was refused to take off from Enugu to Abuja was programmed to operate four other flights that included Kano and Port Harcourt, pointing out that passengers at the other airports waiting for the flight would not know that it was passengers that forced the aircraft not to take off.
“That extra five flights you will start first to bring in passengers of the previous day will disrupt 40 flights in today’s flight schedule. It goes on like that for the next two weeks because you can never recover. You will never be able to recover, given the situation that most of your airport closes by 6:00 pm. In fact, you can’t recover. It will only ease off after two weeks. God saves you if within those two weeks they don’t cause another problem for you, if that happens, it continues,” Onyema added.
News
BREAKING: Key contact details missing in petition to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan – INEC
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has acknowledged receiving a petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District but noted that key contact details of the petitioners were missing.
In a press release signed by Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee, the commission stated that the petition was submitted with six bags of documents containing signatures from more than half of the 474,554 registered voters in the district.
However, the covering letter only provided a general location, “Okene, Kogi State,” without a specific address or multiple contact numbers as required by INEC’s regulations.
INEC emphasized that the recall process is guided by the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and its 2024 Regulations and Guidelines for Recall.
The commission assured that once the petition meets all requirements, it will proceed with verifying the signatures using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) in an open process involving petitioners, observers, and the media.
INEC is currently making efforts to reach the petitioners through other means and urged the public to disregard speculation on social media regarding the recall process.
News
Natasha’s case to be assigned to another Judge as Egwuatu recuse himself, citing Akpabio’s petition
Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, has recused himself from Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s case citing a petition by lawyers to Senator Godswill Akpabio.
The case bothered on suspension of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Udughan from the Senate for six months, but a dramatic twist to it Justice Egwuatu who is presiding over the matter on Tuesday recused himself and ordered that the cas file be sent to the Chief Justice for reassignment.
The trial judge based his decision on a petition the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, wrote to challenge his objectivity in the matter.
Though the suit was originally fixed for hearing, however, when the matter was called up by the court’s clerk, Justice Egwuatu announced his decision in a short ruling he delivered.
He said the case-file would be returned to the Chief Judge for a reassignment to another judge.
It will be recalled that Justice Egwuatu had on March 4, issued an interim order that stopped the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions from going ahead with the disciplinary proceeding that was initiated against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan over an allegation that she flouted rules of the legislative house.
He held that the disciplinary process should be placed on hold, pending the determination of the suit that was brought before him by the embattled female lawmaker.
More so, Justice Egwuatu gave defendants in the matter, 72 hours to show cause why it should not issue an order of interlocutory injunction to stop them from probing the plaintiff for alleged misconduct, without affording her the privileges stipulated in the 1999 Constitution, as amended, the Senate Standing Order 2023, and the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act.
He granted permission for the plaintiff to serve the Originating Summons and all the accompanying processes on all the defendants, through substituted means.
It held that they should be served by handing the processes to the Clerk of the National Assembly or by pasting them on the premises of the National Assembly and publishing same in two national dailies.
The interim orders followed an ex-parte application and an affidavit of urgency that was brought before the court by the lawmaker.
However, despite the orders of the court, the Senate Committee held its sitting and slammed the plaintiff with a six months suspension.
Following an application by the defendants, Justice Egwuatu subsequently amended the interim order he issued in favour of the plaintiff, by vacating the aspect that barred the Senate from undertaking any activity within the pendency of the suit.
The Senate President had through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN, queried the powers of the court to meddle in the affairs of the Senate.
News
Reports of Justice Agim accompanying Wike to UNICAL convocation false, misleading Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has denied that one of its justices, Justice Emmanuel Agim accompanies the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to the convocation at the University of Calabar in the South South Nigeria.
The denial came amid suspicion that Justice Agim who wrote a judgment of the Supreme Court in favour of the 27 lawmakers in Rivers State is close to Wike, hence, his presence around Wike has triggered speculations.
Wike is the former governor of Rivers State and a current of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who controls lawmakers in Rivers.
In a statement issued on Monday by the Supreme Court’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Festus Akande, he refuted the claims, saying Agim attended the event on his own.
The statement described the rumour as misleading, insisting that Justice Agim attended the event as a honoree, urging Nigerians to disregard the social media lies.
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“Hon. Justice Agim attended the convocation as an esteemed honouree and an alumnus of the institution, who the Governing Council had found worthy to be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Law (Doctor Honoris Causa),” the statement read.
“That Justice Agim was recognized for his significant contributions to the legal profession, which reflect his dedication to justice, integrity, and the rule of law.
Naija News reports that the statement highlighted that Justice Agim’s achievements serve as an inspiration for aspiring legal professionals and students alike.
The statement also addressed the claim that Justice Agim had attended the convocation ceremony in the company of Nyesom Wike.
It stressed that this was a false narrative, stating that Justice Agim’s attendance was independent of any government ministry or department and that he was not accompanying any government official.
“Any insinuation to the contrary is not only inaccurate but undermines the judicial independence that is crucial to our democracy,” the Supreme Court emphasized.
Additionally, the statement noted that Justice Agim had been scheduled to attend the burial ceremony of Hon. Justice Stanley Alagoa in Bayelsa State but had sought permission to attend the convocation ceremony instead.
In conclusion, the Supreme Court urged the media and the public to verify information through credible sources before dissemination.
“We encourage the public and media to verify information through credible sources before sharing or publishing to prevent the spread of misinformation,” the statement concluded.
BREAKING: Key contact details missing in petition to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan – INEC
Natasha’s case to be assigned to another Judge as Egwuatu recuse himself, citing Akpabio’s petition
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