Barely 24 hours after the suspension of Dana Air Transport Licence(ATL) licence, and its Air Operator Certificate (AOC)Air passengers who had already booked the Airplane tickets for their different destinations became angry and partly destroyed Dana Air’s counter in Lagos.
Some of the passengers who met empty counters early in the mooring on Thursday were shocked that there were no staff to tell them what next. As a common practice, air passengers would have pre booked their spaces for the early morning flights to different destinations long before the dates of their travelling. These passengers became infuriated for lack of adequate communication after the federal government wielded its stick against the airline and banned the Airline from operating for a while until many of the safety issues raised are addressed.
It would be recalled that the federal government, through its agent, NCAA, on Wednesday 20th June issued a directive that Dana Airs licence be withdrawn because of the airline’s “inability to meet its financial obligations and to conduct safe flights”.
But the airline in the early hour of Thursday released a statement which stated “it understands the impact this suspension will have on our partners, staff, passengers and the general public, but we are very confident that we would come out stronger as we have done in the past”.
If this is true, one wonders why the airline did not send text messages or made attempt to notify passengers who had already pre-booked flights to different destinations in the early hours of Thursday morning. Part of the excuses Dana management gave for its inability to meet up with its financial obligation to the federal government according to the release was that “The recent skyrocketing cost of Jet A1 at 830/litre, unavailability of forex, and inflation are also contributory factors to this decision regrettably,” the statement reads.
Dana therefore you the opportunity to “crave the understanding and patience of our customers, travel and business partners and sincerely apologise for any inconvenience our short absence from the market might cause’’. But aside from financial obligation, safety issues were also raised by the regulatory Agency(NCAA). Which Dana Air management was silent on.
For instance, it was on record that on Tuesday, a day before NCAA wielded the big stick, one of the airplanes of Dana made an emergency landing in Abuja after developing suspected engine problem midair.
It took a level of outburst of some of the passengers in the plane before Dana released a statement which reads “The airline said the affected aircraft was an Abuja-bound Boeing 737 aircraft with registration mark 5N DNA.
Dana Airlines management later acknowledged “all the 100 passengers onboard disembarked safely and that the aircraft has been grounded for immediate attention by our team of engineers.” The statement went further to say “Our Abuja bound Boeing 737 aircraft with registration number (5N DNA) embarked on an emergency landing today 19th July, 2022, due to an indication on one of its engines,”
While everyone understands Airline business is capital intensive, but lives are more precious than any amount that is committed. One recalled in the past Dana Air had once had a misshaped which claimed all the lives of its Lagos bound passengers. Prior to this accident, many had complained of a level of complacency Dana Management displayed towards air safety issues.
