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In an effort to enhance transparency and accountability within the aviation sector, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has announced plans to launch a consumer protection portal in August.
This initiative follows the NCAA’s ongoing efforts to address widespread consumer complaints in the aviation industry.
According to the NCAA, the new portal will enable passengers to log complaints, track airlines’ on-time performance, and access self-reported data on case resolutions, thereby making airline performance data publicly accessible and transparent.
Michael Achimugu, the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at the NCAA, told The PUNCH, “The Consumer Protection Portal of the NCAA will soon be going live, allowing passengers to log their complaints and view the on-time performance of all airlines, including the number of cases reported, resolved, and pending.”
He explained that the portal would feature a self-reporting system, ensuring that airline performance data is accessible to the public.
“It is a self-reporting system where each airline reports its performance to the general public. If an airline is not performing well, it will be transparent for everyone to see,” Achimugu explained.
The NCAA aims to launch this automated system before the end of August.
“It is ready; we are just coordinating some other elements to launch alongside the portal,” Achimugu added.
This announcement comes after the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo, stated that regulators would begin compelling airlines to compensate passengers for delayed or cancelled flights by January 2024. Keyamo also assured travellers that a list of airlines responsible for delays or cancellations would be published weekly as part of the compensation scheme.
The NCAA reported a significant success rate in enforcing airline refunds, achieving a 65 to 70 percent success rate in resolving related issues.
“We have recorded a 65 to 70 percent success rate with enforcing refunds,” Achimugu stated.
This progress is notable amid ongoing challenges in the aviation industry, where delays and cancellations often cause conflicts between airlines and passengers.
Highlighting the complexity of the issue, Achimugu noted, “The honourable minister also pointed out that some delays are not the airlines’ fault. Even when passengers are at fault, they still blame the airlines. For instance, a passenger recently demanded a refund for a missed flight, but he had arrived at the airport just 30 minutes before departure, by which time the check-in counters had already closed.”
Achimugu emphasized the need for fairness in evaluating such complaints, saying, “We need to be fair to the airlines and determine whether delays or issues are due to the airlines’ fault or the passengers’ fault.”
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