Adios Nigeria Airways ... Hello Air Nigeria

[The Guvnor]

Sounds like the B767 and B737NGs are not going to happen, then!

It will be recalled that Air Nigeria was the brainchild of Capt Mohammed Joji, now owner of Skypower Express.

[quote]New Airline to Take to the Skies
Business Day (Johannesburg)

January 7, 2002
Posted to the web January 7, 2002

Kingsley Kubeyinje


THE Nigerian government is set to float a new national airline, to be known as Air Nigeria.

The proposed carrier will take up the international operations of ailing Nigeria Airways.

Aviation Minister Kema Chikwe said arrangements were under way to have French aerospace giant, Airbus Industrie, to manage Air Nigeria.

"What we have done now with Nigeria Airways is that there is a two-tier arrangement for the airline. The international operations have been separated from the domestic and regional operations. We are going to have a new airline to do the international operations," she said.

Chikwe said Nigeria Airways would continue to fly the domestic and regional routes. "It is still strategic to get the private sector involved in the operations of Nigeria Airways. Whatever we adopt, the important thing is that the national carrier is heading towards privatisation.

She said France Airbus Industrie would manage Air Nigeria for a yet-to-be disclosed number of years. "Airbus is going to provide four aircraft. We are negotiating with them the term of the operations," she said.

Chikwe said privately-owned airlines in Nigeria wishing to fly international routes would soon be given the opportunity to do so.

She said the government would, however, put in place stringent measures to ensure that the private airlines that would win the routes would be "strong" airlines that could compete favourably even with the national carrier and other airlines from other countries.

Meanwhile, Nigeria Airways has laid off 1000 of its estimated 4000 workers, in a major job rationalisation preceding the privatisation programme.

The job rationalisation is a fall-out of recommendations of a committee set up by the government to explore ways of reviving the sick firm.

Last year, President Olusegun Obasanjo said the government would take a "final decision very soon" on the future of the airline.

He said the situation in which he found the debt-ridden airline when he assumed office in May 1999 left much to be desired.

Obasanjo said the future of the airline was one of the issues his administration would have to resolve quickly, in its bid to further develop and modernise Nigeria's problematic, but potentially rich, aviation sector.

Nigeria Airways, with debt put at $70m, is one of the public enterprises slated for privatisation under an International Monetary Fund programme.<hr></blockquote>

[j boy]

GUV
Do you think airbus will use pilots from Nigeria airways or from the local market for that matter ? Are there enough pilots available on the local market?

[addpower]

Pilots from the local sector? good question. Thats only when NCAT in Zaria get their fingers out and start churning out pilots!

[The Guvnor]

National Airways: Baby Flushed Out With Bath Water

Vanguard (Lagos)

January 11, 2002
Posted to the web January 11, 2002

Lagos

The hue and cry over privatisation of the distressed Nigeria Airways may be taking a downturn with the invitation of a foreign firm - Airbus Industrie through the Emirate Airlines to participate in the management and operation of the national carrier vis-a-viz the recent sacking of over 1,571 staffers of the airlines. Aviation Correspondent, Albert Akpor examines government decisions as well as the N2.4bn needed to offset salaries of sacked workers

The September 11, 2001 horrific attacks on the World Trade Centre (WTC) no doubt had a far reaching effect on global aviation industry. While some airlines had long been forced out of business for lack of patronage and inability to settle accumulated debts, others had greatly reduced their staff strength in order to cope with the present realities.

Back home in Nigeria, even before the terrorists attacks on the United States, the Nigerian Airways was already on its knees heading towards extinction. The federal government was therefore, as it were, engrossed in what steps to take to revamp the ailing national carrier. Eventually, a decision to privatise the airlines came on board with the appointment of Dr. (Mrs.) Kema Chikwe as head of aviation sector in the country.

Like the Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialization (TCPC) set up during the Babangida administration, a Bureau for Public Enterprise (BPE) was inaugurated and a committee of experts which was to oversee the recommendations of (BPE) was also inaugurated and headed by Vice-President Atiku Abubakar.

No sooner was the committee set up than the federal Government came out with the decision not to spend a kobo on the distressed airlines on the ground that it would be a waste of funds spending additional money on an already decrepit structure.

"We won t spend additional kobo again on Nigeria Airways. How can you be spending on something that is not generating fund to the Federal Government purse?" Atiku queried.

However, aviation experts have since faulted the Federal Government decision not to spend physical cash to revamp the airline, questioning the rationale behind privatising the Nigerian Airways that was already described as "scraps".

No wonder there was the much rumoured $100 million (about N1.12 billion) released by the FG to the sector as lifeline to help acquire more aircraft withheld. Argument was that the money instead of being used for what it was meant would be diverted to pay salaries of dormant workers.

Curiously while the national carrier battled to find its feet even on the domestic routes which had become activated by private airlines, the Federal Government swerved and invited Virgin Atlantic Airways to resume the lucrative Lagos-London route which the Nigeria Airways eventually lost grip of following lack of aircraft to do the operation.

This decision also came under serious attack from both aviation experts and Nigerians alike accusing government of unpatriotism. It was the contention of the public that the decision of the Federal Government to allow Virgin Atlantic resume the Lagos - London route without doing anything positive to revamp the national carrier was aimed at eventually erasing Nigeria Airways from both domestic and international operations.

However, in a twist of event, and probably yielding of pressures from the public, the Federal Government went into a wet-lease agreement with Air Atlanta, got a Boeing 737 aircraft and resumed Lagos - London, Lagos-Dubai routes only in November, 2001.

Incidentally, while staff of the national carrier were still basking in the euphoria of the resumption of those lucrative international routes, government dangled the sledge hammer and fired an intimidating 1,571 staff of the airlines. It was the shock of the century.

Even as affected staffers were thrown into confusion as to what may have caused the mass retrenchment, a flimsy excuse came from the management that the industry was carrying out a restructuring exercise . However, investigation has revealed that the immediate cause of the mass retrenchment arose from the federal government decision to bring back Air Nigeria which first came to life during Chief Ernest Shonekan s Interim National Government (ING) when Chief Oluwole Adeosun was the secretary of transport and aviation.

The idea of AIR Nigeria is that, a French aerospace giant, Airbus Industrie which would operate through the Emirate Airlines has been invited to take over the international operations of the Nigeria Airways and were definitely coming with their own expertise (management). There couldn t therefore, have been a more succinct manner of fore-warning affected staffers that the exercise was imminent.

The Honourable Minister of Aviation was very clear when she said, "what we have done now with Nigerian Airways is that there are two-tier arrangement for the airline, the international operations have been separated from the domestic and regional operations. So to speak, we are going to have a new airline to do the international operations.

"Nigerian Airways will continue with the domestic, regional and continental operations, so it is a strategy to get the private sector involved in the operations of the Nigeria Airways.

"To this end, Airbus Industrie has proposed to the management of international operations of Nigerian Airways and they are bringing in their expertise (management)."

With this arrangement on ground, it was apparent that some staff of the national carrier were on their way out. However, while the mass retrenchment exercise may have been greeted with mixed feelings by affected workers with some welcoming the move and others condemning the exercise, what is not too clear is how the Federal Government would disburse over N2.4 billion to offset salaries of sacked workers.

While the minister of aviation had argued that the exercise was a move aimed at finally launching the ailing airline into privatisation, aviation experts and labour leaders have picked holes on the move, describing it as a misplaced priority.

They argued that if the Federal Government could release the initial amount of $100 million as lifeline to enable the sector acquire more aircraft and now about N2.4 billion going for sacked worker s purse, the most expedient thing to do would have been to put all resources together, reactivate domestic routes, repair most of the airplanes rusting away at the hangar and or acquire more aircrafts to service the international routes.

It has been contended that the reduction in staff strength even though was not out of place, was not the next alternative to privatisation.

It was further argued that the invitation of Airbus Industrie to run the international routes without recourse to activating the domestic routes by way of increasing Nigerian Airways participation on these domestic routes was unpatriotic and a sell out.