NCAA Warns Airline Operators Against Neglecting Passengers During Flight Disruptions

The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) Director , Public Affairs and Consumer Protection , Michael Achimugu has stated that the Authority will commence taking legal actions towards airlines that keep passengers at the terminal up to 12:00AM before cancelling a flight, without providing them with hotel accommodation.

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According to Achimugu who made the statement on his X account, the authority’s regulations stipulate that passengers stranded between the hours of 10:00PM and 4:00AM be given accommodation.

He revealed that airline staff on many occasions avoid attending to disappointed passengers, while they leave the NCAA Consumer Protection officers to do their jobs for them.

Achimugu maintained that airline operators encounter some unforseen challenges in their operations, however, he urged the concerned airlines to do their jobs properly in order to have a good image in the sight of their customers.He noted that defaulters will be publicly identified and penalised.

“The situation where airline staff intentionally disappear, leaving NCAA Consumer Protection Officers to handle justifiably irate and frustrated passengers will no longer be tolerated. While one understands the challenges that operators face in our peculiar operating environment, whoever willfully ventures into a business and wants to remain in it must do it well.

“We must not always choose the easy way out. Don’t you want to be called “world class”? Don’t you want to compete at the highest level? If not for the sake of the passengers who trust you to safely fly them, what about for your own pride? You cannot expose NCAA officials to avoidable risk when all they do is support your business and protect your rights.

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“For infractions that are sanctionable, the Authority will apply the fullest measures possible. We will not abandon the letters of our regulations.

“The federal government has instructed that airlines be named and shamed by the NCAA. While we have done our best to advise per solutions to flight disruptions and why not nearly all cases are the fault of the airlines, the NCAA expects that operators must comply with the regulations in the event of a disruption. In compliance with the directives from the federal government and the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, the naming and shaming will commence.”, he wrote.