Are you an air passenger who easily goes violent over minor issues? You may need to put your temperament in serious control as Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has warned that all irate and belligerent passengers carrying out attacks on airline officials must desist from such act of violence or face criminal charges.
This warning became necessary due to preponderance of reports from some of the nation’s airports detailing brutal attacks on officials of airlines.
These attacks, the regulatory authority described as embarrassing and discourteous to such affected officials.
However, the Authority undoubtedly recognises that operating airlines must at all times uphold the conditions of carriage and contract on each passenger’s ticket.
This means all passengers are conferred with inalienable rights when they are travelling by air. According to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig.CARs 2015 Part 19),it prescribes minimum rights for air travellers on the occurrence of any of the following – no show and overbooking of flight, denied boarding, delay and cancellation of flights etc.
It said: “These rights shall apply without prejudice to a passenger’s right under any applicable law or contract.
“However, passengers are not expected to take laws into their hands if and when there are operational hiccups which are capable of truncating air services.
All over the world, overbooking, deniedboarding, delay and cancellations similarly occur in extraneous circumstances.”
It added, “As contained in Part 19.7.2 Airlines have the obligation to inform passengers on cancellation, an explanation shall be given concerning possible alternative transport.
“Also in Part 19.7.3 an operating airline shall not be obliged to pay compensation for cancellation if it can prove that the cancellation was caused by extraordinary circumstances which could not have been avoided even if all reasonable measures had been taken.
“Part 19.7.4 the burden of proof concerning any question as to whether and when the passenger has been informed of the cancellation of the flight shall rest with the operating airline.”
NCAA therefore admonished airlines to properly guide passengers on why they have to suffer cancellations, delays etc which are normal global occurrence in the industry.
“It therefore means that passengers should be guided that cancellations and any aforementioned scenarios can occur beyond the control of the airline in certain situations,” it counselled..
It also added that when passengers are aggrieved, Part 19.20 of the Nig.CARs which states that a passenger may lodge a complaint with the Consumer Protection Directorate, or any other competent person designated by the Authority, about an alleged infringement, should be resulted to.
It added that the Consumer Protection Directorate (CPD) of the NCAA has handled and resolved several cases from aggrieved passengers to their satisfaction.
“Therefore, the Authority expects aggrieved passengers to recourse to the platform provided by NCAA to file their complaints and seek redress or compensation as the case may be.
“Subsequently, any passenger found carrying out attacks on airline officials will face criminal prosecution,” it warned.
