The Chairman of Air Peace Limited, Dr Allen Onyema say passengers behaviour is responsible for most of the flight delays and cancellations experienced in the country adding that the behavioral pattern causes domestic airlines an estimated N15 billion losses annually.
Referencing a report by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) that showed that airlines contribute little to the cause of flight delays, Onyema affirmed that besides weather, VIP Movement and tech (Aircraft on Ground (AOG), passenger behaviour remains the major cause of the phenomenon in Nigeria.
He attributed the trend to the Nigerian travellers inability to embrace the culture of rescheduling their flight when the initial ones are cancelled, a policy he said is in line with international standards and recommended practices.
According to the Air Peace Chairman, the insistence by passengers whose flights are canceled to be airlifted first the following day gives rise to disruption of flights schedule which snowballs into weeks of delays and cancellations.
In doing so, subsequent flights will not be disrupted, delays and cancellations will drastically minimize and insisted that this is the system that is operated in other parts of the world, except in Nigeria.
“Let me tell you why delays and cancellations will persist in this country. Number one, apart from safety, apart from security, apart from weather and other issues, is unruly passenger behavior, a misunderstanding of how airlines’ scheduled operations are supposed to be run, is a major cause of flight delays.