FOR more than one year now, airline operators in the country have continued to press for financial bailout from the federal government, describing it as the only means to remain in business and make profit, not just revenue.
However, industry watchers and stakeholders disagreeing with the airlines have severely protested the call, leaving no stone unturned to ensure that no money comes from the coffers of the government to the domestic operators who according to them, are bedevilled with the problem of mismanagement.
Airline operators had always cited the case of September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States of America, USA, where the government had to support their airlines and wondered why the Nigeria’s government cannot do same in the face of the economic crunch and the recent bailout given some distressed banks by the government.
On the contrary, Aviation Round Table, ART, an industry pressure group is insisting that the government should not give financial bailout for the airlines, claiming that most of the domestic airlines managements are incompetent and ought not to be in the sub- sector.
The group went further to fight their cause in a recent six-page memo sent to the presidency and the ministry of aviation and endorsed by Captain Dele Ore, the President of ART, and Mr Sam Akerele, the General Secretary, strongly opposed funding bail out for the airlines. “We humbly plead that the intervention fund from government should not be given to domestic airlines whose management have
proven to be incompetent, fraudulent and lacking sufficient expertise to run an efficient and profitable organisation,” the memo read.
The body however, said that if domestic operators must be given bailout, it should be operators who have passed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority’s, NCAA, economic audit with acceptable financial plan for survival and growth.
The body opined that the best intervention by government should be an enabling environment for airline operations and therefore called for subsidy on aviation fuel to be introduced or reduced fuel surcharge by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, as well as reduction on Customs Duties on aircraft engines and spares among others.