The Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) has called on the Federal Government to beef up security at the nation’s airports and ensure that the lives of airline staff and their properties are lawfully protected.
AON President, Abdulmunaf Sarina, made the call in a statement on Friday while condemning the attack on some staff of Max Air in Abuja.
He lamented that some unruly passengers, who assaulted the aviation workers due to a flight delay, also destroyed some of the airline’s properties.
Sarina said this has further heightened the union’s concern and worry over the increasingly deplorable state of security and the rising threat to the lives of airline staff and their properties at the airports.
He described the airport vicinity as a sensitive and sacrosanct environment where people should not be allowed to behave in a callous and uncontrollable manner.
According to AON scribe, a situation where passengers are allowed to have access into sensitive restricted areas of the airport and attack airline staff or prevent a plane from departing to other destinations because a particular flight is delayed or cancelled puts the country in a bad light in the international community.
He stressed that issues of delay or cancellation could be addressed in a civil manner without resorting to violence.
Sarina believes the unruly passengers that went after Max Air and destroyed its computer reservation systems further exacerbates the problem for other passengers going to other destinations.
He explained that AON understood the frustrations whenever a flight was delayed or cancelled and apologised to passengers on behalf of airlines for such delays or cancellations.
The AON president, however, stated that delays happen worldwide and there were conditions responsible for such incidents.
He warned that should there be a reoccurrence like that of Max Air, the union might be forced to have a rethink on how to respond in such circumstances.
