How FG, mgt, staff jointly killed Nigeria Airways – Mshelia

Olusegun Koiki, Lagos

Eighteen years after the liquidation of the former national carrier, Nigeria Airways, players in the Nigerian aviation industry still express disappointment over the demise of the airline.

Capt. Ibrahim Mshelia, the Chairman, West Link Airlines in an interview with aviation journalists in Lagos pointed out that multiplicity of incoherent and wrong decisions, actions, inactions and policies by the Federal Government, its appointees and staff of the airline brought an end to the once flourishing airline.

According to Mshelia, the Federal Government never set up the airline for profitmaking, but as an extension of the Ministry of Aviation, stressing that throughout its existence, the airline had annual budgets for all its yearly activities, while its aircraft were also deployed for government functions without notice.

Besides, he mentioned corrupt practices by the staff and management of the airline as one of the reasons a carrier with 29 fleet of aircraft in 1979, ‘only had two airplanes that were managing to fly in 1999.’

The West Link Airline boss further expressed regret that the entrenchment of quota system and championing of nepotism by the Federal Government in the airline also robbed it off of quality and dedicated staff.

He said: “Nigeria Airways was not created for profitability with the way it was run and the structure it had. How can the airline have an annual budget? The government pays for A, B, C and D checks and others. Because the airline had a budget, every government department then flew Nigeria Airways with warrant officers.

“In the military for instance, from Colonel and above, you flew first class and below, you get economy. For government establishment, from directorship level, you have first class and the rest is economy. And that was how the airline was run. It wasn’t meant for profitmaking. So, how do you survive?

“Now, how did staff and management contribute to its death? It is corruption; everybody was helping himself with the airline. First, everyone was employed based on quota system. You will begin to get it wrong when you apply the quota system in aviation. Quota system is unique in Nigeria for certain reasons, but we should begin to separate what quota system will be applicable in what. Only the best should be taken.

“The management of the airline would employ mediocre in the places they should not be, give people positions above their level and qualifications, thereby demoralising the other staff that are better qualified than you. Also, there were cases in which Stations Managers were sacked or recalled for not doing the biddings of some people in the government, especially when they wanted their non-revenue luggage to be given priority above revenue luggage of passengers.”

On the call for mergers for Nigerian airlines to boost capacity and productivity, Mshelia insisted that this scheme may not work in Nigeria due to different orientations by promoters of such airlines, stressing that each promoter came with different models and ideas.

He declared that West Link Airlines, one of the charter operators in the country was yet to benefit from the recent palliatives granted airlines and other operators in the country despite submitting all the required documents.

He described the attitude of the government towards the distribution of the bailout funds as discriminatory, but vowed to pursue it to a logical conclusion.

Besides, Mshelia advocated for complete autonomy of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to obliterate it from the apron string of the Ministry of Aviation.

He posited further that the lack of deliberate policies by the Federal Government to develop aviation was responsible for its current low level in Nigeria, stressing that General Aviation development was one of the many ways to develop the sector in the country.

Mshelia purported that some private jet operators still engage in charter services despite the measures put in place by the NCAA to checkmate such practices.

He noted that such sharp practices by some of the private jet operators was robbing off the government of the mandatory 5 per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) by all commercial airlines, adding that the lives of their passengers was also endangered by their activities.

He called on the regulatory authority to beam its searchlight more on the activities of the private jet operators in the country to curb the insincere act.

“Then, I think the Department of State Security (DSS) should have intervened because this is purely economy sabotage, for them to remain for this long, even when the former Director-General of NCAA suspended some of them.

“That is why I felt that if the Director-General of NCAA has a full autonomy, then he would do his job without looking at the body language of the minister,” he said.