Towards a genuine national carrier

any fresh effort in that direction must be done with care and through meticulous planning. So reports indicating that the Ministry of Aviation has converted Nigeria’s oldest private air operator, Aero Contractors, to a national carrier were something of an unpleasant surprise. The reports detailed how the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah, had concluded […]

any fresh effort in that direction must be done with care and through meticulous planning. So reports indicating that the Ministry of Aviation has converted Nigeria’s oldest private air operator, Aero Contractors, to a national carrier were something of an unpleasant surprise. The reports detailed how the Minister of Aviation, Mrs Stella Oduah, had concluded plans to unveil the firm as Nigeria’s new flag carrier. If the reports are true, they are consistent with an earlier announcement that the government was planning to launch a new national carrier with a fleet of 30 aircraft.
One of the Aero Contractors’ aircraft, a Boeing 737-500 Classic that went for C-check abroad, recently returned in new colours and a new name. The aircraft with registration number 5N-BLC which was painted in national colours had the name ‘Nigeria Eagle’ to replace the old name ‘Air Nigeria’.
Aero Contractors hit turbulent economic weather recently and its asset was taken over by Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON), through which the government acquired 60 per cent of the troubled airline.  In the new arrangement, Aero Contractors’ fleet is expected to combine with the fleet of the defunct Air Nigeria to create a new national carrier.
Top Aero Contractors officials boated that the airline’s apparent change of fortune-and focus-was due to what they claimed were its safety records.  Aviation authorities have been putting out mixed signals on the actual status of the new arrangement. Some have sought to explain that the plane was painted in its new colours as part of a publicity blitz for the Super Eagles national team during the forthcoming World Cup in Brazil next year.
In their reactions, members of the Senate and House of Representatives committees on aviation kicked against attempts to bring in a national carrier through the backdoor. Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume said that if the government’s intention was to make Aero Contractors to wear the national colours, the airline did not merit the privilege, arguing that those proposing it wished to use national resources to cover up the corrupt practices that ran the airline aground. Representative Idris Garba Abdullahi dismissed the proposal on the ground that an airline that could not serve Abuja and Lagos was not fit to be the country’s national carrier.
The decision to designate a national carrier is not one to be unilaterally taken by the Minster of Aviation. It is of such magnitude and importance it should be subject to public debate before. Recommending a private airline taken over by the state, as in the Aero Contractors case, suggests that aviation officials have not learnt any lessons from the culture of corruption that ruined several state-owned companies, including airlines, in the past.
 A national carrier does not have to be state-owned. With the right investment, the sector, which is capital intensive, has better prospects of survival if it is public-owned, with individuals eligible to buy shares in it. Nor should it entail government monopoly of the shares. Indeed, government stakes in the company should be marginal. A public-owned national carrier encourages competition and engenders efficiency in management and operation.
A national carrier is desirable because it symbolises statehood and is a source of national pride for citizens, especially outside the shores of the country. It serves to strengthen diplomatic relationships between a nation and other countries.   One of the consequences of not having a national carrier is the exigency of stopping over in the home countries of foreign national carriers to take connecting flights, resulting in travellers spending more time and money on a trip that should take minutes.
While the authorities should seriously consider setting up one, this must not be smuggled in, as it were in this case, without the participation of citizens. There are great lessons to be learnt, particularly by the Minster of Aviation and her officials, in the admirable resilience of the national carriers of Ethiopia and Egypt.