Nigeria Airways is undergoing a sweeping administrative and operational reorganisation aimed at putting the airline on a stronger financial footing. The cost-cutting measures include a reduction in staff, a clampdown on malpractices, and the rationalisation of its fleet. Managing Director, Group Captain Bernard Banfa, says that his goal is to improve the carrier’s efficiency and turn it into a viable business concern.
Last year the airline’s net revenue on its European routes was N4.5 million Naira (£4.4 million pounds sterling) – down 21.6 percent on 1983 figures. The airline attributes this slump to the Federal Military Government’s stringent economic measures which resulted in a 52.8 percent decline in passenger traffic on the key London route in 1984. But Banfa has said the airline could improve its financial situation through greater internal discipline.
More than 1,000 of the airline’s 10,000-strong workforce have been either sacked or retired since he assumed office in January, 1984. Former Managing Director, M. T. Bature and his Deputy, Captain N. O. Nnachi, who were reassigned as Director of Personnel and DC-10 Fleet Captain, respectively, have both opted to retire early.
In addition to the ongoing purge of employees, the airline intends to close unprofitable routes and offices abroad, reduce excessive overseas travel by senior executives, build staff quarters instead of renting costly apartments, and cut down on wet-leased aircraft.
Group Captain Banfa has vowed to stamp out ticket rackets and other fraudulent practices which he says have resulted in heavy losses for the airline. He recently said that some Nigeria Airways officials have been deliberately diverting cargo to the country’s mushrooming private carriers.
The Managing Director has also promised to deal firmly with airline staff caught trafficking in drugs. According to airline spokesman Femi Ogunleye, the United States Civil Aeronautics Board last year threatened to impound any Nigeria Airways aircraft found bringing drugs into the USA. A stewardess was promptly dismissed last year for allegedly helping a passenger smuggle drugs into Britain.
Transport and Aviation Minister Rear Admiral Patrick Koshoni has just announced that Nigeria Airways’ eight part-time Directors may soon be vested with full executive power. The proposed management restructure is needed to improve the airline’s productivity and efficiency, he said.
Government sources in Lagos hint that the managerial change could be a prelude to a partial privatisation of the national carrier. A seven-member study group set up by the military government to examine the performance of public utilities has recommended that the shareholding of some of them, including Nigeria Airways, should be thrown open to private investors.
Meanwhile, with the recent acquisition of four Airbus A310s and sale of seven Fokker F28s, the airline’s fleet rationalisation programme has almost been completed. With the exception of two retained DC-10s, the new policy will make Boeing and Airbus Industrie Nigeria Airways’ main aircraft suppliers.
Two French firms, Sogerma and Sabena, have been contracted to maintain the four A310s. Sogerma is to supply airframe components while Sabena is to maintain the Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7R4D1 engines. The contracts also provide for the supply of technical assistance and the training of Nigeria Airways’ personnel. The airline management recently went to great lengths to dispel misgivings expressed by some Nigerians about the twin-engined aircraft’s safety on long-haul routes and in bad weather conditions.