NCAA to sanction more airlines over consumer complaints

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority has disclosed plans to sanction more airlines for infractions related to consumer protection.

This development follows recent enforcement actions taken against several carriers for unresolved complaints and non-compliance with regulatory directives.

The Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, Michael Achimugu, confirmed to Sunday PUNCH that further sanctions are imminent.

“More airlines are going to be sanctioned shortly for similar offences. It is with the legal department at the moment, waiting to proceed to the DG’s desk for signing,” he revealed.

However, he noted that “what has been announced is not the sanction itself. It is the initiation of the enforcement action.”

Explaining the procedure, he said, “Now there’s a process to it. It’s my job to initiate these sanctions. Then we escalate it to the legal department. The legal department looks at it to ensure that we have no legal liability and that we are in order concerning the specific sanctions that I have listed, right? Then the DG will sign it. Now, it is when the DG signs it that it becomes an enforcement action.”

Speaking on the actions that have already been taken by the agency on sanctioning five airlines, he disclosed that many airlines have begun responding to the sanctions.

“Royal Air Maroc, I have summoned them to come to the office. Air Peace, of course, you heard the chairman himself acknowledged and accepted the sanctions. Aero has called in to say that they have already treated seven of the 11 cases for which we are sanctioning them,” he said.

He also noted progress with other airlines. “Ethiopian Airlines has written in to say that they have actually resolved cases for which we sanctioned them. However, I have asked them to send in their compliance report, which will show whether they resolved those cases before or after we announced those sanctions. Arik has also written in to say that their legal team is working on it.”

However, Achimugu emphasised that the enforcement process will continue for unresolved infractions. “Even for those who have said, ‘Look, we have resolved this number out of the entire list, it means that there are still some that are unresolved. They will still be sanctioned for those,” he said.

He further highlighted that failure to respond to NCAA correspondence constitutes a sanctionable infraction. “In any case, some of the infractions are that they did not respond to correspondence from the NCAA, which is in itself an infraction, sanctionable. So, they will definitely be sanctioned for that.”

He told Sunday PUNCH that the sanctions are primarily monetary and do not impact the operations of the airlines. “They are all still operating and flying, but the sanctions are mostly fines. They are monetary. It means that once you owe this person, you will pay the person. You will pay the fine as stipulated in the regulations. Every infraction comes with its own specific stipulated fine or punishment.”

He also said that the NCAA’s actions appear to be yielding results. “They are doing a whole lot of new things. People are getting refunded quickly, expressly, ever since that announcement was made. So, it’s getting us the results that we had anticipated, and we will continue to do more,” Achimugu concluded.

Weeks ago, The PUNCH reported that Achimugu cautioned airlines against delaying passenger refunds beyond the timelines specified in Part 19 of the NCAA Regulations 2023, warning that such violations would attract sanctions.

A week later, the agency initiated enforcement actions against Royal Air Maroc, Ethiopian Airlines, Air Peace, Arik Air, and Aero Contractors.

The decision to sanction the airlines came after the NCAA issued a warning in response to a spike in passenger complaints.