26th October, 2010
Worried over the plight of passengers in the hand of airline operators, the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) has warned that it will not hesitate to take disciplinary action against any airline that continues to maltreat its passengers.
In a letter recently addressed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, the Director General of the council, Mrs. Ify Umenyi noted that in the last one month, her office has received numerous petitions from airline passengers who had been maltreated in one way or the other by airlines operating in the country.
She urged the regulatory agency to curtail the continued suffering of Nigerian passengers by prevailing on operators in the industry to, amongst other things, overhaul their general operation and information disseminaton. Mrs. Umenyi said that it is worrisome that airlines abuse the rights of their passengers with impunity.
“The most worrisome of all is the fact that in as much as it has become a norm for consumers to furnish airline ticketing officers with their telephone contacts while purchasing their tickets, such contact numbers are scarcely used to advice consumers on the status of their flight before getting to the airport. This happens even when it may have been known to the operator before hand that a flight will not be operated as scheduled”
While conceding to the fact that different factors like bad weather, technical hitches and operational challenges in the form of disruption in fuel supply could occasion delays and cancellation of flights under shot notice, she noted that it is against international norms and global best practices for consumers to be denied any form of compensation.
She warned that though airlines may have been getting away with all these in the past due to the lack of existing passenger right laws in Nigeria, the council may  soon employ actions that may result in untoward consequences for the airlines if the trend continues.