Once upon a country and its aviation sector

All  is not well with the country’s aviation sector as hardly will a week pass without it going through one crisis or the other. Therefore, to say the sector is speedily sinking may not be an exaggeration in view of the myriad of challenges dragging it down.

There is no particular aspect of the sector that is free from one trouble or the other with the multiple effects shaking the stability of the entire sector.

It is no longer hidden that the various agencies within the sector are grappling with different challenges ranging from undue politicization, lack of adequate funding, poor infrastructure to poor workers’ condition of service and unjust imposition of neophytes on the agencies which have led to workers’ low morale. The domestic airline business is not doing well either as it records different problems daily.

Without doubt, the airlines are the major drivers of the sector through which the country like any other enjoys connectivity to other parts of the country and the world in general hence, the viability of any country is not complete without a strong avaiation sector be it a domestic and international airline business.

The presence of the airlines is what is keeping the other components of the sector including the aviation agencies, ground handling companies and other allied business running as they need each other with the end benefit of contributing to the gross domestic product of the entire country’s economy.

As critical as this sector is, unfortunately, it is gradually collapsing and if something is not urgently done to address these challenges, the story may become once upon a time for the sector.

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With the recent drama that played out and still playing, the sector is in a serious mess with air of uncertainty hovering over its survival which the global community is keenly watching to see how the relevant authorities especially the federal government will handle.

Within one week, the sector witnessed two crises starting with the threat by the domestic airlines to shut down their operations having been overwhelmed by the unbearable hike in the price of aviation fuel that has been attributed to the high exchange rates.

It is on record that prior to last week, the airlines had at different fora raised the alarm on how the expensive price of the commodity had increased their operational costs by almost 40 percent with the cost further going higher.

The issue of high price of aviation fuel is just one of the challenges while others include: unpopular policies of government such as multiple entry points to foreign airlines, structural deficits at the airports like the absence of airfield lightings at the number one gateway airport in the country for over fifteen years which has been at extra costs to the airlines.

Each time the airlines complained about these problems, the government will only make promises which never translated to any positive result.

While it is being argued in some quarters that airline operators are private investors who should handle their challenges, nevertheless, their business involves providing air transport services to millions of people which the government cannot do.

The only support the airlines need  is for government to play its own part of making the environment very conducive which has not been the case.

At the center of this mess is the ordinary travelers who often suffer hardships at the peak of the imbroglio as witnessed last week with many either getting stranded or having to pay extra to travel while those who could not afford it were forced to settle for the deadly road transport mode.

Not until when the entire system almost collapsed on the face of the government before it reached out to the airlines appealing to them not to shut down and calling them for an emergency meeting to address the problems.

The questions on the lips of many include: why should government wait for the mess to  happen before realising the need for a meeting with airlines; who pays for the sufferings of the travelers who got caught up in the drama and how long will it take the government to start taking issues affecting the sector more seriously?

Without doubt aviation, besides being one of the top sectors that generate more revenue for government, is also an avenue through which  other parts of the globe connect with the country, hence, without which the government and its officials like ordinary people can travel by air, therefore it will be suicidal to allow this sector to crumble.