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Flight delays and cancellations in domestic and international travel have fuelled an increase in irate passengers attacking airline as well as airport staff and destroying equipment. The United States alone accounted for 5,981 cases of air rage with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), stating that 72 per cent of this figure was mask related incidents.
On December, 20, a passenger, Chike Okogwu, attacked Dana Air staff and destroyed their booking systems at the Abuja Airport for refusing to allow him board at night.
The airline said it explained to Okogwu that its policy is not to carry special passengers (living with disability) at night while offering to check him in on the 7 am flight the next day. However, the airline said it had video evidence showing the passenger who refused the offer, attacking the duty manager and causing her injuries in the process. This same passenger also went further to destroy the airline’s check-in systems, chairs, Covid-19 protective glass shields and weighing machines at the counter.
Just recently, Max Air was attacked by unruly passengers at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport over the delay of their flight and many of the computers and electronic gadgets belonging to the airline were destroyed. This prompted the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) to issue a statement, warning that the increasing attacks heightens the concern over the increasingly deplorable state of security and the rising threat to the lives of airline staff and their properties at Nigerian airports.
The body it understands the frustrations whenever a flight is delayed or cancelled and apologised to passengers on behalf of airlines for such delays or cancellations. It, however, said the issues of delay or cancellation can be addressed in a civil manner without resorting to violence.
AON said some of the causes of delays and cancellations include: unavailability and rising cost of Jet A1 (which today costs above N585 per litre in Lagos, N607 in Abuja and Port Harcourt, and N685 in Kano), inadequate parking space for aircraft on the apron sometimes leading to ground accidents, inadequate screening and exit points at departure, inefficient passenger access and facilitation, natural and unforeseen circumstances such as weather and catastrophic failures , such as bird strikes and component failures, and restrictions caused by sunset airports among others.
The body pointed out that item six of the NCAA’s Notice on Passenger Obligations to Airlines/Service Providers requires passengers to: “Be of good behavior at all stages of their journey,” adding that “airlines and agencies have a zero policy for unruly behavior.”
AON appealed to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to beef up security at the nation’s airports and ensure that the lives of airline staff and their properties are lawfully protected.
The body of airlines, however, warned that should a similar occurrence like the case with Max Air happen to any of its member airlines going forward, it may be forced to have a rethink on how to respond in such circumstances.
