By Chinelo Obogo
talktonelo@yahoo.com
2025 will go down in history as the year Nigeria’s aviation sector recorded one of the highest incidents of air rage, where passengers exhibited unruly behaviour and clashed with airline crew members.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-1718806029429-0’); });
In January, an Ibom Air passenger held an Uyo-Abuja flight hostage over delayed luggage. Her refusal to disembark forced the flight to be cancelled affecting 89 passengers. In February, there were two major incidents. One involved a Nigerian, Gloria Omisore who had conflict with Kenya Airways staff at Nairobi airport after being denied boarding for lacking a Schengen visa, resulting in NCAA fining the airline. Later that month, three Air Peace passengers, Adewale Adedigba, Magnis Ashibuogwu and Iwunze Benjamin, illegally upgraded themselves to business class on a London-Lagos flight, leading to their arrest for breach of peace and FAAN bylaw violations.
Another incident involved Senator Adams Oshiomhole who clashed with Air Peace staff in June, after arriving late to the airport.
He blocked the terminal entrance when denied boarding. While Oshiomhole claimed he was fighting overbooking and poor service, the airline maintained he reacted violently to standard procedures.
In August, a popular musician, King Wasiu Ayinde Marshal (KWAM 1), blocked an aircraft from taxiing on the tarmac in what the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, likened to hijacking. This resulted in NCAA suspending two ValueJet pilots, placing KWAM 1 on a six-month no-fly list and prompting a public apology from the musician, who claimed the controversial flask that orchestrated the rumpus contained only water. Five days later, another incident involving Ms. Comfort Emmanson occurred and swelled the list of air rage incidents.
However, Daily Sun sought to find out if airlines could consider using technology to monitor how cabin crew and flight staff interact with passengers. It is thought that tracking these interactions could help determine performance evaluations, identify staff in need of additional training or orientation and highlight those whose behaviour consistently meets or exceeds customer service standards. Such a system would shed light on the rude or unprofessional conduct that sometimes goes unnoticed, ensuring passengers are treated with the courtesy and respect they deserve.
The reactions were unanimous, tilting towards elevated training instead of relying on tech monitors
According to an aviation security expert, when tempers flare mid-air or on ground and passengers lash out, it is not hidden cameras or monitoring systems that de-escalate the chaos, but the calm, skilled response of the cabin crew.
He insisted that investing in enhanced training, not technology, remains the most effective way to tackle air rage.
He explained that while airlines have the capacity to raise their current standards, any such adjustment must first receive approval from the NCAA. However, he stressed that for domestic flights in Nigeria, typically an hour or less, there is still room for significant improvement.
“I think the matter was badly handled by the Ibom Air crew. The security could have been informed and prepared on the ground before the arrival of the flight and the lady arrested on the ground while disembarking. In 1993, a terrorist from Ghana was escorted from Ghana to Nigeria by a CIA agent on the Ghanaian Airways aircraft. My office was informed and took nothing but identification to me and Amachere (SSS) by the on board CIA to pick him up unruffled. The airport security programme and the In-flight security programme need to be addressed by reviewing them for the NCAA approval for future threats. What happened both ways could be rehearsal for copycats of unlawful acts against civil aviation,” he said.
Amos Akpan, another aviation expert, had a similar view
He told Daily Sun that the civil aviation approved training programme of cabin crew meets the standards required for them to perform their roles in-flight. He said in addition to the theory, they perform practicals, then simulate their duty roles in stationary aircraft like a life evacuation event and even go to the beach to simulate ditching in water. Then inspectors from the regulatory authority are mandated to inspect them in their line of duty. It is a licensed profession that requires annual recertification and renewal. Their roles on duty are documented which they follow to the letter.
“On the subject of unruly or irate passenger referrals, each operator has documented procedures for handling them. It is in their approved manuals from the first contact at check-in counter into the aircraft, including disembarkation. Each staff member knows his or her role in the line of duty because some airlines introduced carrying security personnel (flight marshalls) on board their flights. Each company’s security and orderliness conformance procedures differ but all are guided by the civil aviation regulations security program.
“Training and refresher trainings are continuous within approved calendared programs. Procedures for monitoring and evaluation of performance on duty are also documented and followed by supervisory managers and regulators. It is not open to anyhowness. The current occurrences seem surprising to non-aviation professionals but the training programs in the industry anticipated such problems even up to levels above what has occurred so far.
“The social media representation of the occurrences and outcomes do not reflect the industry’s standard and recommended practices. The handling of all such occurrences are recorded in reports, reviewed, commendations, sanctions, corrective measures taken, then published for future references during training and for personnel in the line of duty. Human relations training has been included in the crew resource management courses which is compulsory for all crew members. Out of line behaviour from passengers will not stop occurring once in a while. Human error in the handling procedures should not be ruled out completely. But the industry has put in place anticipatory procedures to manage these occurrences.
“Operators can choose what measures to use provided it is within the envelope of Nigeria civil aviation regulations 2023. This is what would guide the option of fitting tracking devices or not. Flight crew interactions with passengers are boxed within the procedures documented in their manuals as approved by the civil aviation authority. If they use methods not within the documented procedures, it attracts mandatory report, investigation and results of the findings will be implemented,” he said.
The president of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Galadima Abednego, told Daily Sun that what the cabin crew need is service delivery training. He said: “What the cabin crew needs is service delivery training and not technology that can monitor or record interaction between passengers. The airlines need to develop their competence on emotional intelligence and how to quickly understand people.”
The post Taming air rage: Experts advocate enhanced crew training, not monitoring gadgets appeared first on The Sun Nigeria.
