NAN-H-68
Intervention
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, Feb. 10, 2017 (NAN) Stakeholders in the Aviation industry have called on the Federal Government to provide intervention for the airlines to save the industry from total collapse.
They made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
Mr Isaac Balami, President, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) said that government should as a matter of urgency develop an intervention programme to save airlines in the country.
Balami said that unlike other countries, Nigerian government had not shown serious commitment to helping airlines in the country, adding that something should be done urgently to avoid total collapse of airlines.
He said that taking over of airlines by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), had never solved the problems of the airlines.
According to him, he wonders what happen that Arik that is valued at over 3 billion US dollars at some point has degenerated to the level where AMCON has to take over.
“The truth of the matter is that the industry, as I have always say, needs intervention.
“If the government does not do something, all the airlines will go down the same way because I know that we have issues with management of some of the airlines.
“There has been no tangible support by the government in the past and even the so called intervention fund is not meant for the airlines, it is meant to rescue the banks.
“If nothing is being done, I tell you one day, Nigerians will wake up and go to airports and there would be no aircraft to fly them,’’ he said.
Balami also decried the poor business environment in the country which according to him had been the major challenge facing airline business in Nigeria.
He observed that even if the government succeeded in establishing a national carrier, the airline would find it difficult to survive in the face of high cost of fuel and other facilities.
According to him, absence of a maintenance facility in the country has made Nigeria to spend over N200 billion for C-check oversees annually including the presidential fleet and Air Force aircraft.
“In the 1970s, the defunct Nigerian Airways used to do C-check and D-Check on Boeing 737 and 300 series in this country.
“Today, we cannot even change or overhaul the landing gear of a Boeing 737 in Nigeria, something we did over 30 years ago.
`In Ethiopia today, Boeing that was frustrated out of this country has established factory there and today all repairs and maintenance of their aircraft are done in that country.
“Ethiopia is even manufacturing aircraft spare part for Boeing and still sell to other parts of the world but we are still here struggling with an airline.
On whether AMCON can manage Arik effectively, Balami said the same AMCON took over Aero some years back which he added had become a failure.
According to him, AMCON is not trained to manage airlines, they take care of debts and recover money for the banks.
“AMCON needs to look for people that understand the system and what is happening in the industry properly.”
Frances Akinjole, General Secretary, Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSAN) said the union had nothing against the decision of AMCON to take over the management of the airline.
Akinjle said that considering the issues around the airline, ranging from debts to poor management, taking it over was a welcome development.
He added that everybody in the industry knew Arik to be a “pathological debtor’’, adding that if the takeover would solve some of its problems, ATSSAN would support it.
“We as a union, it is not that we have absolute confidence in AMCON because we know what has been happening in Aero since it took over the airline.
“It AMCON can get a better team of management for Arik to turn around its misfortune, it will go a long way to bringing it back on track because a lot has gone wrong with the airline,’’ he said.
AMCON had on Thursday announced that it had taken over the management of the Arik Airlines considering the position of the airline in the nation’s aviation industry.
It explained that Arik had failed to repay loans totaling N135 billion ($429 million, 402 million Euros) by the end of December and also owing “a lot of foreign creditors’’. (NAN)
OYS/MO
======Edited by Morayo Omolade