Airspace ban, travel protocols : triggers for aviation sector's turbulent flight in 2020

 Airspace ban, travel protocols : triggers for aviation sector's turbulent flight in  2020 

As the year 2020 navigates its bend towards the finishing lines of the tarmac , a flurry of activities dotted the air travel space that bears reminding- COVID -19 and its unintended consequences for the sector.

Like no other, a chain of developments enveloped the year with the onset of the pandemic ,which continues to have debilitating effects on airlines, ground handling companies , aeronautical agencies and others connected to the air travel and logistic value chain,  

KELVIN OSA- OKUNBOR  reports .

As the year 2020 inches towards its end this week, it is one year players and operators in the air travel sector are not in a hurry to forget in the long time to come.

Reason : It has been a year of sad reminders : harvest of deaths, job losses, shrinking revenues, redundancies in operations, flights bans, restrictions in flight operations and other negative developments that has turned air travel  into a fear stricken window for virus infection.

Developments in the aviation sector took a dangerous twist since March 2020 when the the index case of Corona Virus - an Italian, yet to be identified flew into the country aboard a European carrier forcing aviation and health authorities to role out preventive measures to protect other passengers from getting infected by the deadly virus.

Besides the scare of the virus, which has since altered the stakes in air travel globally, Nigeria alongside other countries rolled nationwide containment and curtailment strategies to contain the spread of the disease.

Specifically , in March 2020 as the sacre over the COVID -19 Pandemic began to escalate Federal Government effected flight ban on countries where the pandemic had harvested many deaths.

Besides the flight ban for some countries, the Federal Government went ahead to close all airports to scheduled local and international flights, save for evacuation / medical and special flights for medical supplies and persons with medical conditions.

In the succeeding weeks, the entire country was locked down forcing many carriers to send their workers on furlough and redundancies pending when there will be ease of the lockdown for economic activities.

 Experts say the year 2020 will go down in history as the worst for the aviation industry because of the disruptions the entire travel industry experienced as many airlines, including Arik Air had to fire over 300 workers.

Justifying the sack of its workers, Managing Director, Arik Air, Captain Roy Ilegbodu said the jobs erasure  was  due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on its operations.

He said : ' “Arising from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the constrained ability of the airline to complete heavy maintenance activities and return its planes to operations, stunted revenues against increasing operational costs, the management of Arik Air (In Receivership) has declared 300 staff members redundant to its current level of operations,” the statement said.
“The leadership of the impacted unions has been contacted to negotiate a redundancy package for the affected staff.”
he statement said over 50 per cent of Arik Air’s workforce of over 1,600 staff have been on furlough in the past six months on a base allowance.
“Decisions to let go of staff is naturally a difficult decision. Arik Air wishes the impacted staff well in their future endeavors,” the airline said.
Airlines have been some of the most affected businesses since the coronavirus pandemic broke out. Many airlines have had to cut costs and lay off staff to stay afloat.

But, Arik Air was not the only carrier that took such painful decision in the year under review, largest domestic carrier by fleet size - Air Peace also sacked some pilots and other workers due ostensibly to the effect of the COVID -19 pandemic on its operations.

Speaking on the development, its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr Allen Onyema said  the devastating effects of COVID-19 pandemic on its operations was responsible for the sack of some pilots and supporting staff.

The company described the development as a very painful, but rightful decision”.
It said that the decision followed the circumstances the airline found itself in as a result of the devastating effects of COVID-19 pandemic on its operations.
“This decision was taken for the greater good of the company and its almost three thousand workforce, the affected pilots inclusive.
“The airline cannot afford to toe the path of being unable to continue to fulfill its financial obligations to its staff, external vendors, aviation agencies, maintenance organisations, insurance companies, banks and other creditors.
“Hence, the decision to restructure its entire operations with a view to surviving the times.
“The pandemic has hit every airline worldwide, so badly that it has become very impossible for airlines to remain afloat without carrying out internal restructuring of their costs.
“Anything short of what we have done may lead to the collapse of an airline as could be seen in some places worldwide during this period.

The  year is not all about job losses, but an opportunity for aviation authorities- Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to roll out new safety and airworthiness protocols for air travel in line with prescriptions designed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and global aviation regulator - International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Famous among these protocols was the wearing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs),for frontline airport workers, air crew and other critical aviation personnel.

In the year under review, a huge row broke over social and physical distancing on board aircraft, which pitted airline owners and operators against personnel of the NCAA and the Ministry of Aviation.

Industry operators including Chairman of Air Peace, Managing Director of AeroContractors of Nigeria , Captain Ado Sanusi and other operators said it was not profitable for local carriers to implement social distancing on board an aircraft on account of loss of revenue that would accrue from such unoccupied seats.

In the year under review, some domestic carriers including Air Peace did the nation proud by embarking on series of evacuation flights for Nigerian stranded on account of the lockdown in India, United Kingdom, South Africa and other countries in addition to flying in medical personnel from China which assisted during the pandemic with medical supplies.

In the year under review,  Nigerian Federal Government said it will review its air agreements with various countries as a result of the unacceptable treatment of Nigerian carriers by the UK.

A Nigerian Air Peace airline flight deployed to evacuate stranded Nigerians in the UK was  been denied landing rights.
 270 Nigerians and two Egyptian nationals were evacuated from Cairo.
 Nigerian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama who expressed sadness over the denial of landing rights to Air Peace at London’s Heathrow Airport ,however, urged aggrieved Nigerians not to protest, but be grateful to Air Peace for providing alternative arrangements to ensure their successful evacuation in spite of the challenges.
“Having been allowed to carry out one very successful evacuation of Nigerians from London at very low fares, Air Peace in coordination with the Nigerian Government and full knowledge of the UK authorities scheduled two additional flights.
“All the arrangements were made including payments, only for the UK authorities to withdraw landing rights close to departure despite strong representations by the Nigerian Government, including pointing out the hardship that would be caused to hundreds of Nigerian evacuees,” he said.
Onyeama said Air Peace could have just refunded the passengers, but exceptionally, patriotically and altruistically agreed to find an alternative carrier acceptable to the UK authorities. This, according to the minister, Air Peace did to carry out the evacuation a day later than scheduled, but for much higher fares. He said these higher fares could legitimately have been passed on to the evacuees, but Air Peace bore this huge cost itself.
“This is to let the aggrieved evacuees know that the objects of their grievance should neither be Air Peace nor the Nigerian Government.
“They should rather be eternally grateful to Air Peace. “The Nigerian Government will review its Air agreements with various countries as a result of the unacceptable treatment of Nigerian carriers during this pandemic,” Onyeama said.
In the year under review, the House of Representatives Committee on Aviation berated the Federal Government for contracting foreign carriers in carrying out evacuation flights saying it was another opportunity to shortchange local carriers.One of the major developments that shaped activities in the sector in the year under review was the brouhaha over proposed N5 billion bail out funds for airlines and aviations agencies. Besides, being paltry industry experts including President Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI), Dr Gbenga Olowo said the proposed fund was not only insufficient, but belated if the Federal Government genuinely wanted to assist beleaguered indigenous carriers.

“This is all a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reasonable countries intervened in their aviation industries in the second or third month. This is the eighth month and Nigeria is just responding. I think the government should just leave us to die, and then we will know that Nigeria has no aviation industry. The N4billion palliative for the aviation sector is very insensitive. I condemn it totally,” Olowo said.

However, the Senate Committee on Aviation in the year under review had prevailed on the Federal Government to jerk the proposed bail out for local carriers to save the industry from collapse.

Its Chairman , Smart Adeyemi called on the Federal Government to provide a bailout fund of N50 billion for airlines operators in the country.

He said : " “We particularly held interactions with Airline operators and a few important factors came to fore. It will indeed require executive orders which must be adhered to.”

He said although Federal Government had provided a bailout of N4 billion for the operators he, however, said there was need for a review of the bailout to keep the airliners in business and ensure safety of passengers.
“With further and more critical intervention with airline operators in Nigeria, we gathered that approximately N50 billion will be required to meet the requirements of airline operators.
“This increase in bail fund is imperative if we are to keep our economy running, guaranty job security and mitigate retrenchment.
“A critical look at the aviation industry in Africa, Senagal, for instance, which is no competition for the Nigerian Aviation industry in terms of number of airline operators, released a sum of 74 million dollars as bail out funds for its Airline operators. 

“If comparative analysis is anything to go by, it is clear that the N4 billion naira announced by the Federal Government as bailout funds for airline operators will not be sufficient to sustain three of the needs of the 15 scheduled flight operators, save the non scheduled operators,” Adeyemi said.
He listed some challenges currently faced by the airline operators to include the non compliance of Nigerian Customs with the executive order to waive any form of taxation on importation of spare parts and commercial aircraft.

One of the major developments that will not be sidetracked in the year under review include new measures at the airports including decontamination of airports and disinfection of aircraft to stem the spread of the COVID -19 pandemic, which had done incalculable damage to air travel.

In the year under review, aviation agencies including FAAN, NCAA and Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), experienced significant dip in their revenues, was occasioned by reduction in flight activities. These agencies draw their revenues from increasing flight activities at the nation's airports.

But, it is not an entirely  sad narrative as the year under review offered ground handling companies namely ; Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) Plc the opportunity to think outside the box in its revenue streams.

Speaking in an interview, its Group Managing Director, Mrs Tokunbo Fagbemi said the pandemic has been a learning curve for operators to reset their strategy for survival.

Mrs Fagbemi said : " “Our backbone has been mainly cargo operations. Though people are traveling less, they have been shipping more. During the pandemic, we opened discussions with our clients, the airlines, which have brought opportunities for some haulage and logistic business.

She, however, said despite the havoc caused by the pandemic, the lessons learnt are too good to be ignored. One of the lessons, according to her, is the need to adapt to new ways of doing things.
“COVID-19 has changed the way we do business, by ensuring there is delivery of target by working from home and helping companies to realize that there is a pool of people with ideas to achieve innovations. It has helped us scale up our internal resources to drive operational excellence using technology and achieving much more with technology.
“It also brought about dynamism to meet the challenges we met and it helped us to think ahead in our standard operating procedures to achieve better results. By and large, COVID – 19 brought challenges; things were hard, but it helped us as a company to forge ahead.