By Aviation Safety Round Table Initiative (ASRTI)
In the light of recent disturbing development in our industry and the opaque conceptual issues attached to the national carrier/s the Aviation Round Table Initiative unequivocally states:
That we support the establishment of national carrier/s devoid of government financial input but driven strictly by investors. Government should provide the necessary enabling ground and aero-political support environment.
ARTI support for this project is hinged on our recognition of the desirability of a national carrier/s and the observed floundering of our flag carriers on the international routes. These shortcomings are traceable to weak government policies and poor negotiations skills in various agreements.
Therefore, the proposed national carrier/s should be granted full compliments of the appropriate status, independence to be the arrow head in the implementation of operational issues arising from BASAs and MASAs to which Nigeria is a signatory unhindered by any concessions or agreements however made.
All existing concessions and agreements from which benefits are being derived by any person or corporate bodies capable of impinging on the operations of the proposed national carrier/s shall cease forthwith at the inception of the national carrier/s.
Any outstanding obligations arising from agreements made prior to the emergence of the narional carrier/s must be renegotiated between the national carrier and such flag carrier which will be supervised by the regulator NCAA.
The corporate objective of the proposed carrier/s should be:
Consistent Delivery of Excellent & Competitive Customer Services (Inter, intra Africa & Global).
Adopting Global Best Standard (Schedule Integrity, Global Alliances etc).
Reciprocate all Air Services Agreement with Nigeria & reverse negative balance of trade through patriotically renegotiated commercial agreements spinoff of the BASAs.
We expect the government to take the following complimentary actions:
It is vital that very knowledgeable aviators with cognate experience are selected to midwife the birth of the new national carrier/s
The governing board of directors of the national carrier should be composed of persons with proven track records of success in the aviation industry.
The berthing process should last for a period not less than three years from inception.
The national carrier/s should start with a fleet of ten to fifteen aircrafts and shall be mandated to utilize the proceeds of all allocated frequencies strictly for fleet expansion and capacity building. This shall be monitored for compliance by NCAA.
Existing operators in the industry should be afforded the opportunity to observe and participate in the proposed national carrier/s project within stipulated guidelines and transparent process
All BASAs & MASAs should be reviewed with the objective of renegotiation where established to be unfavourable to Nigeria’s national interest.
