The failure of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to apply regulations equally on all passengers irrespective of status is the major reason for the continuous growth of unruly behaviour in the country’s aviation industry, said experts.

They noted that the apex regulatory body in the Nigerian aviation industry, just like most government-owned institutions, has failed to apply the rules uniformly. They hope that the recent unpleasant events in the industry would compel it to change.

From August 5 to August 12, the industry witnessed four known crises, with two involving Ibom Air. Max Air and ValueJet were also affected, with two cases attracting global attention.

The acts exposed the laxities in Nigeria’s aviation industry and its non-compliance with the recommended practices and standards of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

Speaking on the issue in an interview with The Guardian, Director, Research, Zenith Travel Ltd, Olumide Ohunayo, said the regulatory agency had failed to live up to expectations in the application of the rules.

Ohunayo regretted that the NCAA, over the years, applied different rules to different categories of air travellers, which fueled unruly behaviour among the flying public.

He expressed that if the regulator (NCAA) was firm and fair to all parties, the Nigerian aviation industry would have a smooth flight, while unruly behaviour would drastically reduce.

Ohunayo said, “If the regulator is firm on all parties, then we will have a smooth flight without having any unruliness. The sad thing about any unruly passenger behaviour is that if that flight is delayed, it cascades to the rest of that particular flight or crew for the rest of the day, which is the reason you see the airlines often want to overlook some of those behaviours, but now that it is becoming abusive and getting out of hand, I think they just need to sacrifice that delay to deal with an unruly situation.

“The NCAA, like every other institution in Nigeria, is caught within the web. It is very difficult to apply the same rules to everyone. But now that they say they have waived all that and created the awareness, let’s see what happens moving forward if all animals here are equal.

“Now that they have been able to say no airline is overboard, because in those days when we had Nigeria Airways, it was a problem. Now, there is no government-owned airline and so they can manage the airlines.

“The problem now is how to manage the passengers, especially the Very Important Persons (VIP). It is time for the NCAA to say ‘look, the rules are for everybody and there is no exemption and if you want an exemption, don’t fly.”

Also, Chris Amokwu, aviation expert, said the recent events required introspection by the entire aviation community in Nigeria.

According to Amokwu, the increasing unruly conduct by passengers and airline staff portrayed a negative image for the sector in the country.

He declared that the NCAA in the past, just like now, had failed to implement the rules, likening the agency “to a dog that can only bark, but cannot bite.”

He explained further that the two events revealed the non-implementation of security protocols and the NCAA’s inability to apply the rules equally.

He maintained that every organisation had written and approved procedures for carrying out their roles in the industry, noting that the NCAA drew its rules and regulations from ICAO Technical Specifications, while the airlines, airports, and handling companies drew their operations specifications from their manuals approved by the NCAA in accordance with Nigerian civil aviation regulations.
H
e said: “The NCAA has never impressed me when it comes to the application of the rules and some classes of people in the country. Until we learn to apply the regulations equally to everyone, the crisis will continue. However, with the new riot act, let’s see where it takes us.”