AVIATION ROUND TABLE OPPOSE FINANCIAL BAIL OUT FOR AIRLINE OPERATORS

*Says ?Operators Have Incompetent, Fraudulent Managements

Members of the Aviation Round Table(ART) have opposed any financial bail out for airline operators in Nigeria as been proposed by the Minister of Finance, Mansur Muktar.
The association also condemned what it described as one-sided meeting held on October,22,2009 with only selected members of the Airline Operators of Nigeria(AON) and representatives of the Federal Government adding that ,?the crisis in the Aviation Industry can not be addressed by one unit?, out of several stakeholders in the industry.
In a 6-page memo sent to the presidency and the ministry of aviation and endorsed by the President of ART, Captain Dele Ore and the General Secretary, Mr Sam Owolabi Akerele, the body which strongly opposed funding bail out for the airlines said, :
?We humbly plead that the intervention fund from government should not be given to domestic airlines whose management have proven to be incompetent, fraudulent and lacking sufficient expertise to run an efficient and profitable organisation?.
The non-governmental body however said if domestic operators must be given bail out, it should be operators who have passed the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority?s(NCAA) economic audit with acceptable financial plan for survival and growth.
On the earlier meeting government held with AON, members of the Aviation Round Table prayed for the convening of another 2-Day workshop in Abuja of all stakeholders in the industry where solutions would be proposed for the crisis be-devilling the aviation sector in the country.
Their other prayers are that-
*All domestic operators, schedule, non-schedule and charter operators must re-group into categories such that anyone with an aircraft or airline can not be an executive member of Airline Operators or hold life position in a democratic organization;
* Subsidy on aviation fuel to be introduced or reduced fuel surcharge by the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria(FAAN);
*Reduced Custom Duties on Aircraft Engines and Spares;
*Usage of BASA fund for Aviation Infrastructural Development by the para-ministry agencies; Policies to enhance up-surge of passengers in air transportation;
*Re-evaluate the establishment of State airports, and such airports should be maintained by the State government for at least 10 years and On Airport Concessioning-government should set up Infrastructure and Regulatory Commission and put in place other legislation to achieve proper private/public partnership that would ensure transparent and efficient cum competitive concessioning process .