Nigeria: Despite Guidelines, Nigerian Airlines Not Paying Compensation for Delays

Abdullateef Aliyu

• Remain Notorious For Cancellations, Other Infractions
• What Regulations Say
• Operators Kick As NCAA Mulls Full Refund For Passengers
• Lawyers Speak

Air travellers are appalled that owners of commercial airlines are getting away with infractions like undue delays, cancellations, among others in Nigeria, at the detriment of their passengers without being punished, Daily Trust on Sunday reports.

Findings revealed that the situation is not the same in other countries in Europe and the Americas, where passengers are heavily compensated by airlines once there is delay or cancellation outside what aviation regulations stipulate.

In Nigeria, the problem of flight delays and cancellations has become a hydra-headed monster in the aviation industry.

Harrowing tales

Many passengers who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday said the provisions on passengers' rights are being observed in breach. According to them, despite the provisions explicitly stipulated in the regulations, airlines usually delay flights without providing any form of succour.

Hajara Ismail, who works in Lagos, said she was delayed for more than eight hours by one of the airlines notorious for delays.

"I came to Abuja for weekend and booked with the airline to go back on Monday. It was an 8am flight and I was at the airport around 6:30am, but sadly, we were waiting until 9:30am when they announced that our flight had been delayed for two hours because of technical glitch.

"It was that so-called glitch that lingered until 4pm when we were evacuated. There was no serious apology and no refreshment. It is sad, Nigerians are being taken for a ride," she said.

Michael Miha said he missed a job interview because of the delay he suffered from Port Harcourt to Abuja.

"I am from Borno State and have a modest job in Port Harcourt, but I applied for another one in Abuja when a friend advised that I should go for it.

"Considering that the interview was scheduled for 10am, I booked a 7am flight and another one for 2:30pm to come back to Port Harcourt. To cut the story short, the one for Abuja delayed for 3 hours, and by the time we arrived, it took me over an hour from the airport to the venue. Everything was over and I missed the opportunity; and there was no compensation," he said.

Another passenger who shared an experience with our correspondent said, "I travelled from Lagos to Uyo recently and had an initial one hour delay due to weather. Finally ready to board at 0800, at the tarmac, all passengers were informed that no baggage would be loaded on the flight. Reason? The flight would operate with EMB-145. There was no fuel in Uyo, so they would lift fuel sufficient for Lagos-Uyo, plus next flight destination from Uyo.

We were told that our bags would be sent to Abuja to connect the Abuja-Uyo flight, estimated to arrive in Uyo by 12:35. We arrived in Uyo at 0930. On arrival at Uyo, a fuel bowser came and refuelled the aircraft that brought us.

"What really was the reason for not carrying any of the passengers' baggage? Why would passengers wait for three hours plus in Uyo airport to receive their baggage from a flight they are not sure would bring the bags? Passengers are really suffering," she said.

Some of the passengers also blamed the regulatory authority for not being up and doing in addressing some of these challenges.

Otunba Ademola, a passenger said, "I had a bad experience with a Nigerian airline when it was still flying to London. Our flight was cancelled, and up till today, I have not been able to get a refund because the airline has stopped operating that route. I have made up my mind that I would not have anything to do with the airline again. Nigerian carriers need to wake up. They ought to have perfected this a long time ago."

Situation in other countries

This is, however, different from what is obtainable in developed countries, especially the Unites States and Europe, where passengers can claim huge amounts of money in compensation for delays.

For instance, in the US, there is a maximum of $700, roughly N525,000 at N750/$ (excluding accommodation and food costs, which airlines may have to cover) for delaying passengers.

But even short delays can incur penalties of $200 or more. Delayed flights can take off or land in any European Union (EU) nation, along with associated nations like Switzerland, Iceland and Norway (or the UK).

It was, however, gathered that for the compensation to be made, the airline must be at fault to some degree. Claims probably won't be accepted if extreme weather situations were to blame, which is classified as force majeure.

A Nigerian passenger told our correspondent how he was paid a compensation of $872, now N654,000 (including cost of feeding) by an airline in the US for delaying him for over three hours after the flight he was supposed to travel in was over-booked. He wondered why it is a different scenario in Nigeria.

"I was scheduled to travel from Washington to Pittsburgh and I was at the airport on time. I checked in my luggage and collected my boarding pass. However, when it was time for boarding, they discovered that there was no seat number on my boarding pass. They apologised and asked me to wait. After about 10 minutes, they discovered that my seat was given to a different passenger and the aircraft was fully booked.

"The man at the counter sincerely apologised and said it was a rare occurrence. He gave me another boarding pass to Pittsburgh en route New York, and at the same time, a cheque of $872 dollars as compensation. It was unbelievable. All these were completed in minutes," the passenger said.

Sunday Henry, who also suffered delay in the US, said he was compensated. "I was given money for the delay and refreshment while waiting for the next flight. It was awesome. It was very difficult to argue with the airliner because they treated you well and they genuinely apologised for the delay," he said.

"Here in Nigeria, passengers go through very traumatic experiences without any form of compensation. Very few airlines would bother to give you water and biscuits while waiting," he said.

Running battle

Over the years, there has been a running battle between airlines and passengers over undue delays and cancellation of flights.

This has resulted in passengers going haywire and attacking staff of airlines and equipment at the airport.

The major attack was in April last year when some passengers of Max Air at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, went berserk over the delay of their flight, venting the anger on the airline staff while facilities of the airline were destroyed.

The same attack was recorded at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos as Lagos-Kano passengers also took on the airline's staff for delaying the flight.

The situation angered the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), which issued a strongly worded statement, saying, "The unruly passengers that went after Max Air and destroyed the computer reservation systems further exacerbated the problem for other passengers going to other destinations."

The president of the AON, Abdulmunaf Yunusa Sarina added, "Such acts are completely unacceptable."

The several attacks on airline passengers have, however, not solved the problem of flight delays in the country's aviation sector, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered.

A report compiled by some aviation professionals estimated that over $52.7 million was lost annually to flight delays.

In the analysis of the cost impact of flight delays released by the General Sales and Solution Management Limited (GSSM), an aviation consultancy firm, the experts estimated that $4.3million was lost monthly to arrive at the yearly loss of $52.7m or N24.2 billion.

The report released by the Founding Partner/Executive Director of GSSM, Babatunde Adeniji, came a few days after the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) released the 2022 Executive Summary of International and Domestic Flight operations, indicating massive flight delays by the domestic airlines.

The summary indicated that 11 domestic airlines operated 80,328 flights with 47,144 of the flights delayed between January and December 2022.

The 11 airlines included Aero Contractors, Arik, Azman, Dana Air, Overland, Air Peace, Max Air, Ibom Air, United Nigeria, Green Africa and Value Jet.

Adeniji, in his analysis, explained that "report card was filled in red, showing that we failed as an industry to even make the pass grade.

"Domestic airlines as a whole were only punctual for 41 per cent of operated flights, with Ibom Air and Green Africa and Value jet (new entrants) being the outliers among the 11 operators," he said.

We're not exclusively responsible - Operators

However, airline operators insist that flight delays were inevitable in the circumstances they operate.

According to them, apart from unexpected technical glitches to aircraft, there are also occasions of force majeure, which might cause flight delays. These include heavy downpour, the harmattan haze, which reduces visibility during aircraft landing and take-off.

On its part, the AON listed other causes of flight delays to include 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 (bird strikes and component failures), and restrictions caused by sunset airports, among others.

Also listed among the causes is VIP movements, especially in Abuja, the seat of power, which have often triggered massive flight delays and cancellations in some instances.

Efforts to speak to some of the airlines individually were not successful as all of them said they didn't talk in isolation as they have an umbrella body.

When contacted, the vice president of AON, Mr Allen Onyema, told our correspondent that 95 per cent of causes of flight delays were outside the control of the airlines.

He alleged that this is why passengers should always exercise restraint when flights are delayed because they are mostly not caused by them.

He said, "I still say it and I stand by it. The AON also stands by it. Ninety five per cent of the delays Nigerians experience flying domestic operations are caused by things beyond their control.

"Let's start with when you have your aircraft on ground and you need to get a spare part. To clear with Customs might take you days or weeks. There is another one called end user certificate. My aircraft was on the ground sometimes for three months to get an end user certificate because some parts of the aircraft are classified as dangerous goods. I am not exaggerating and other airlines are facing the same thing. Things like this deplete your capacity.

"Secondly, you talk of airport infrastructure. I have told you what is happening in Abuja. Once your flight leaves on time from here to Abuja during that peak time in the morning, all the airlines are cramped into one small place, which has no conveyor belt and you are given two counters each when Air Peace alone is doing 28 to 30 flights out of Abuja alone, not to talk of other airlines.

"Again, most airports don't have night landing facilities. So what you do in order not to cancel flights is to sacrifice Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt or Abuja, where you have night landing facilities. This is happening every day. Is that the fault of the airlines?

"You also have the issue of bird strike. Who is supposed to pursue the birds? Once you have a bird strike, where the aircraft is scheduled to go for that day would be affected," he said.

He decried that airlines and their staff had suffered undue attacks over the delay of flights, saying, "We need to be protected."

Existing regulations on flight delays, cancellations

The immediate past Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, once said the passengers' rights were protected in the existing civil aviation regulations.

According to him, on domestic flight delays beyond one hour, the carrier should provide refreshment and one telephone call, one text message or e-mail. They should send you an SMS or email, or call you to say, 'I am sorry, I am delaying for one hour.'

"For a delay of two hours and beyond, the carrier shall reimburse passengers the full volume of their tickets.

"Delay between 10pm and 4am, the carrier shall provide hotel accommodation, refreshment, meal, two free calls, SMS, email and transport to and from airport," Sirika said, noting that the same rules would also be applied to international flights.

Part 19.6 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CAR) 2015 as amended, which talks about domestic flights delays states, "When an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure, it shall provide the passengers with reason for the delay within 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time and the assistance specified thus: after two hours, refreshment as specified in section 19.10.1, and telephone calls, SMS and e-mails as specified in section 19.10.2 ; beyond three hours, reimbursement as specified in Section 19.9.1(i) ; and at a time beyond 10pm till 4am, or at a time when the airport is closed at the point of departure or final destination, the assistance specified in sections 19.10.1(iii)and 19.10.1(iv) (hotel accommodation and transport)

In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall, according to section 6 of the part: (i) Be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with sections 19.6 and; (ii) be offered assistance by the operating air carrier in accordance with sections19.9.1(i) and 19.9.2, as well as, in the event of re-routing when the reasonably expected time of departure of the new flight is at least the day after the departure as it was planned for the cancelled flight, the assistance specified in Sections 19.9.1(ii) and 19.9.1(iii) ; in respect of domestic flights, have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier in accordance with section 19.10 unless they are informed of the cancellation at least twenty-four hours before the scheduled time of departure."

Experts speak

An aviation analyst, Sheri Kyari, an engineer, said it would be a welcome development if the new regulations stipulated 100 per cent refund to passengers.

He said, "Definitely, this will help to wake up airlines to their responsibility to their customers. Secondly, it should make them see the necessity to go into code sharing, where they can check in passengers into other airlines rather than cancel flights and refuse to refund passengers their money for them to move on to other carriers. This will be great for passengers. In fact, not only refunding 100 per cent but with a 10 per cent of the air fare to fully compensate them.

"To be sure passengers are well compensated requires full implementation by the Authority and, may be, passengers having class actions in courts against erring airlines. When airlines find out they are losing a lot they will sit up. This can also lead to airlines reducing their flight schedules to manageable numbers because as it stands today, airlines try to operate very unrealistic schedules with fewer aircraft in the fleets."

The Director of Training and Research, Zenith Travels, Mr. Olumide Ohunayo said the regulations had been there but there has not been compliance and sanction.

"I think it has always been there. I just hope the airlines would see how they would comply with these regulations and also avoid this issue of cancellation by going into code-sharing with other airlines to lift their passengers and then work out remittance. So the rules have always been there to help passengers in terms of distress and flight cancellations and delays, but sanction for non-compliance has always been the issue," he said.

The general manager, Public Relations of the NCAA, Mr. Sam Adurogboye, in a chat with our correspondent said, "The NCAA position is that passengers are the reason we are in business.

"The NCAA will back an operator of a flight that is to be delayed on account of bad weather or have issues with fuelling or engine problems or any other snag. But passengers must be carried along. Anything short of that will not be allowed by the Authority. Violation of our regulations is viewed seriously in the NCAA and appropriate sanction is meted out accordingly."

'Why we're against new regulation'

Onyeama said the issues he raised were partly the reason airline operators expressed reservation over the new regulations being proposed by the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), which stipulates 100 per cent refund for passengers who suffered flight cancellations.

Recall that the director-general of Civil Aviation (DGCA), Captain Musa Nuhu recently hinted about the proposal to ensure that air passengers would get 100 per cent instant refund anytime an airline cancels a flight.

He said, "We are currently reviewing our regulations to review what's done in the past that gives some days for refund if my flight is cancelled.

"What we have in the new regulation that will be signed into law very soon when it is all cleaned up is that if you cancel my flight you should put me on another flight or give me the option of getting a refund immediately so that I can make other plans," he said.

Passengers can sue airlines if ...

An Abuja-based lawyer, Chinelo Ogbazor Esq said airlines could be sued for damages if they breach the contract with their customers through cancellation of flights or inability to mitigate the loss incurred by a customer.

"If it is the act of God or acts or state beyond the control of the airlines, then parties will bear their respective costs," she said.

However, Kenechukwu Ifekwe said airlines may not be liable if they expressly stated in their terms and conditions what may happen in the course of the transaction.

"They are very smart and cover their failings using the terms and conditions. In Nigeria the refunds and lodgements are not made as of asking, it is very hard" he said.