Thursday, September 11, 2025 - The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has directed pilots not to take off when dealing with unruly passengers, in a move aimed at strengthening safety and discipline in the aviation sector.
The directive was announced on Wednesday, September 10, by
the Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu,
during a meeting with all domestic airlines in Abuja.
According to Achimugu, pilots must ensure that issues with
disruptive passengers are resolved amicably or that the individuals are removed
by security before a flight can depart. “Pilots must not fly a plane until
unruly passengers are removed from the aircraft by security or the issue
resolved amicably. This will go a long way to protect cabin crew and make
passengers treat them with courtesy,” he said.
He added that incidents of unruly behaviour are often
exacerbated because pilots did not assert proper control. “Cases are overblown
because the pilots in command did not take charge. Going forward, no passenger
has the right to touch any cabin crew,” Achimugu emphasized.
Cabin crew were also reminded to maintain professionalism in
their duties. “Cabin crew should not be rude and passengers should not
misconstrue firmness of cabin crew as rudeness,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to the
Director-General of the NCAA, Mrs. Ifueko Abdulmalik, warned that the authority
would sanction airlines that fail to notify or provide care for passengers when
flights are delayed or cancelled.
Other matters discussed at the meeting included passenger
handling protocols, unresolved refund and compensation issues, the introduction
of RFID bag tags and flight monitoring technology, enforcement of phone
switch-off instructions, and measures to improve travel experiences while
protecting cabin crew.
Airlines represented at the meeting included Arik, Ibom,
Aero, United Nigeria, Green Africa, Max Air, Rano Air, ValueJet, AirPeace, and
Overland.
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