Aviation Beyond 2023

Anthony Kila writes about the nation’s aviation sector in 2023 with a submission that the role of government should be to regulate the industry with a view to making the sector better

Dear Readers

The title of today’s epistle is taken from the theme of the just concluded quarterly breakfast meeting of the Aviation Round Table (ART), held in Lagos, where past and present leaders of the Nigerian aviation sector gathered as experts and stakeholders to discuss issues affecting aviation. The event was a peculiar episode because of its purpose. The intention of the organisers of the event was to on one hand set the agenda for the new administration that will take over affairs of the country in general and the aviation sector in particular come May 2023 and on the other hand interrogate and dialogue with politicians aiming to take over management of the country.

To achieve both aims, the ART led by Gbenga Olowo made their breakfast table larger so that they can accommodate more people, they invited leaders of the major national political parties contending in the 2023 elections.

The PDP of Atiku Abubakar and the APC of Bola Tinubu did not honour the invitation, Peter Obi’s Labour Party was represented by Pat Utomi, and Rabiu Kwankwaso’s NNPP was represented by Olanrewaju Kamal.

Others invited to offer their input included Johnson Egunanye, Kayode Soremikun, my dangerous self.

Pat Utomi spoke more like a management expert, passionate citizen, concerned consumer and less like a partisan politician, I think he still a novice in the trade of promising miracles and dissing others like many partisan politicians do.

The crux of my input was to critically look at how far we have gone so far from there, decide where we want to go and how to get to our desired destination.

Clearly the organisers of the ART too believe that 2023 is a year to take stock of the past and to plan for the future. Those stakeholders want the new administration to be cognisant of the position of experts and stakeholders in aviation. In looking at the journey so far, unless we are guided by other factors outside facts and figures, it is  not difficult to see that the aviation industry has not made a quantum leap in the past close to eight years.

The issues affecting the industry in 2014 are more less still the same issues and desires of the three major actors in the industry still remain the same. The three major actors in the aviation industry are the consumers, operators and regulators.

It is my strongly held view that for aviation to function well, we need to develop a consumer centric approach both in operating and evaluating the aviation sector. With such an approach in mind everything we do in aviation must start from this question: What do consumers want in aviation?

The answer for me is that consumers want safe, punctual affordable and flexible flights or shall we say skies. It is important to note here that consumers don’t really care who provides these wants, what matter is that the wants are satisfied. Once we recognise and agree on these wants, the task and mode of other actors is simple and clear. Operators and government that want to operate as a consumer (and citizen) centric provider and regulator in 2023 and beyond must therefore act in ways that will ensure that the desires of these consumers and citizens are met.

The government has an extra mental burden. To efficiently absolve its duties, the government must in the first place understand and internalise the mindset that in 2023 and beyond, aviation must not be seen as mode of transport of a few or even many elites but as a mode of interaction for all just like we view telephones and digital services.

Starting from the government, we all must accept that due to the structure and size of Nigeria as well as influence of technology in our lives, it is time we consider aviation as one of the essential infrastructures of our lives.

 The first consequence of such reasoning is that the availability of flights and access to airports across the country becomes an index of development for judging people and government. The second consequence of such reasoning is that government and operators must therefore be thinking of how to make flights available and airports accessible. All these requires vision, planning and capacity to implement but it is not all just sacrifice, there is also a lot of reward and therein lies the third consequence: considering aviation an essential infrastructure also presents us with massive opportunities for job and wealth creation.

From selling of flights and tickets, to the operation and maintenance of aircrafts and airports to the conception and management of auxiliary business that can aid and partner with other ventures such as education, tourism and hospitality, energy and finance, trade and industry, the potential benefits can make even the most ambitious dizzy.

Starting from 2023, government needs to see aviation as a major source of wealth and development, an additional source that can easily match if not beat other known revenues.

To tap into these potentials, choices must be made. Does availability of potential wealth mean that government must directly be a player as the government is currently clumsily trying to do by floating an airline? My answer is no.

In my view, the role of government is to create an enabling environment that will allow private players deploy their ideas and resources, take risk in return for profit. My experience in and knowledge of the aviation industry allows me to authoritatively confirm that there are private players capable of making the most of the aviation sector for benefit of all and that so far government is more of burden than a blessing in the sector.

Starting from the “A” of aviation to the “Z” in zoology the government of 2023 and beyond must learn that naturally, government has no business in business and that the role of government in business is to allow businesses do business. Government needs learn to limit itself to regulating for safety and fair treatment for people and certainty of contracts.

Government is a referee not a player and should only play in those very rare and practically impossible occasions where there are not enough players. 

Join me if you can @anthonykila to continue these conversations.

-Kila is Centre Director at CIAPS Lagos. www.ciaps.org.