Business
NCAA To Sanction More Airlines Over Passengers’ Complaints
Sequel to series of complaints by air passengers against airlines, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has disclosed plans to sanction more airlines.
The agency recent undertook enforcement actions against several carriers for unresolved complaints and non-compliance with regulatory directives.
The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection of the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, had in a recent release confirmed that further sanctions are imminent.
“More airlines are going to be sanctioned shortly for similar offences. It is with the legal department at the moment, waiting to proceed to the DG’s desk for signing.
“What has been announced is not the sanction itself. It is the initiation of the enforcement action”, he noted.
Explaining the procedure, he said, “Now there’s a process to it. It’s my job to initiate these sanctions. Then we escalate it to the legal department.
“The legal department looks at it to ensure that we have no legal liability and that we are in order concerning the specific sanctions that I have listed, right? Then the DG will sign it. Now, it is when the DG signs it that it becomes an enforcement action”.
Speaking on the actions that have already been taken by the agency on sanctioning five airlines, he disclosed that many airlines have begun responding to the sanctions.
“Royal Air Maroc, I have summoned them to come to the office. Air Peace, of course, you heard the chairman himself acknowledged and accepted the sanctions. Aero Contractors has called in to say that they have already treated seven of the 11 cases for which we are sanctioning them”, he said.
Achimugu however emphasised that the enforcement process will continue for unresolved infractions.
“Even for those who have said, ‘Look, we have resolved this number out of the entire list, it means that there are still some that are unresolved. They will still be sanctioned for those.
“In any case, some of the infractions are that they did not respond to correspondence from the NCAA, which is in itself an infraction, sanction-able. So, they will definitely be sanctioned for that”, he said.
According to him, the sanctions are primarily monetary and do not impact the operations of the airlines.
“They are all still operating and flying, but the sanctions are mostly fines. They are monetary. It means that once you owe this person, you will pay the person. You will pay the fine as stipulated in the regulations.
“Every infraction comes with its own specific stipulated fine or punishment”, he noted.
Corlins Walter