Identify five ways of reviving Nigerian airways
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Recently, the Nigeria Senate demanded that the Federal Government of Nigeria should revive the defunct Nigeria Airways before the end of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
It claimed that reviving the dead airline would address the present indiscriminate and unregulated increase in airfares.
However, understudying the rise and fall of Nigeria airways would often suggest that reviving the airline may not really be the best option giving the past irregularity in the system.
Establishment and flourishing of the nation’s airline
Nigeria Airways was established on the 23rd of August 1958, however, at the time of establishment, it was known as West African Airways Corporation Nigeria (WAAC Nigeria).
The airline was owned by Nigeria and The Elder Dempster Lines and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). Nigeria was the majority owner with 51% of the share whereas the Elder Dempster held 32.5% and BOAC held 16.5% of the share.
BOAC managed the airlines and thus provided the plane used for the first international route, from Lagos to London.
Nigeria Airways
Nigeria Airways Vickers VC-10, leased from BOAC, at Ikeja Airport in 1969 (Photo credit: RuthAS via CC BY-SA 3.0)
After the 1960 independence, the airline was solely controlled by the Nigerian government and BOAC completely withdrew itself from the operations in 1964. New routes were established and new aircrafts were added to the fleet.
The first plane crash took place in November 1969 on a flight from Kano to Lagos which claimed about 87 lives.
Furthermore, the airlines made expansion in the 1970s and also increased its staff strength. However, Nigeria signed a contract with America’s Trans World Airlines (TWA) which lasted for seven years and thus ended its deal with the British.
Demise and repeated fall of Nigeria Airways
After being managed by TWA, Nigeria Airways was managed by several other bodies including KLM and South African Airways.
The demise of the airline began just after being managed by KLM. During the reign of Shehu Shagari, the airline accumulated enormous debts and in fact at the end of the administration, the debts were even bigger than its revenue. To make the matter worse, the airline had an excessive number of staff with up to 500 staff for each plane.
By 1984, which corresponded to the reign of General Buhari, about nine of the aircraft were not serviceable and the airline had up to 8500 employees even though it had no need for most of them. As a matter of fact, few ideas were initiated during the administrations but these proved abortive.on: