Recently, controversy brewed online over delayed Air Peace flight, culminating in calls by the affected passenger for a boycott of the airline. The airline subsequently issued a statement, which countered allegations made by the affected passenger, Mr Isaac Fayose, who posted a video on his Instagram page on January 3 accusing the airline of delaying his Lagos-Abuja flight for over eight hours without apology or compensation.
In the video, which has since gone viral, Mr Fayose claimed that he spent more than N150,000 for the flight, which was scheduled to depart at 13:45hrs, but did not take off until 20:30hrs. He also called Air Peace “the most useless airline in the world,” as he urged his followers to boycott the company. However, Air Peace took exception to some aspects of Mr Fayose’s claims, saying that his account of events was “maliciously exaggerated” to denigrate the airline, and that he was not truthful about the actual duration of the delay and the reasons behind it.
According to the statement, which was released on the airline’s official Twitter account, Mr Fayose’s flight was rescheduled due to a sudden technical issue in the operating aircraft. This unforeseen situation, the airline noted, necessitated an unplanned aircraft maintenance.
“In lay man’s parlance, ‘tech’ refers to a situation when an aircraft (as an equipment) suddenly develops technical issue which may impinge on the safety of both passengers and the operating aircraft,” the statement read.
“In line with strict regulatory standards, the operating aircraft was removed from service so that this could be addressed before the aircraft could be released to operate. This necessitated the re-scheduling of Mr Fayose’s flight so that this issue could be fixed.”
The statement went on to narrate that Air Peace possesses “unassailable evidence” which shows that the passenger received a message informing him of the flight disruption at 12:00hrs, and that the airline complied with the Regulation 19.6.4.1 of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Regulations 2023, which only obligates airlines to give 12 (twelve) hours’ re-scheduling notice to passengers of domestic flights.
Furthermore, the statement added that Mr Fayose checked-in at 17:35hrs with a baggage tag at 18.35 hours, which contradicted his account of being delayed for eight hours. It also said that he lied about the time of boarding and departure, as the aircraft was in fact airborne at 20:18hrs, not 20:30hrs as he claimed.
“Air Peace understands that Mr Fayose, alongside other passengers, faced inconveniences as a result of the disruption of their flight and empathise with all affected passengers; but strongly frowns at his resort to unlawful defamation and false accusations against the airline,” the statement concluded.
The statement also thanked the majority of the passengers who showed understanding and patience during the delay, and assured them of the airline’s commitment to safety, comfort, and customer satisfaction. However, the statement did not seem to appease some of the online critics, who took to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction and frustration with the airline.
One of them, @Dongrel_sr, replied to Air Peace’s tweet, saying that the airline was not showing enough empathy to the plight of its passengers, and that it was unfair to charge extra fees to passengers who missed their flights due to reasons beyond their control.
He wrote: “Flight was supposed to take off 13:45 but took off 20:18. That is about 6 hrs 18 min. When you kept hammering on the client exaggerating a 6hr 18min delay as if it were 8 hrs, one would think the time was far apart. I remember arriving at the checking in desk at Abuja Airport 2 min late due to a strike by aviation workers. I pleaded with @flyairpeace but they insisted I pay extra 10k to join the next flight. They would not pay me compensation if they delay me for 6hr 18 min though. If a passenger is trying to check in one second after you have closed boarding gate, you would insist they pay heavy fines to join the next flight, you will never have mercy on them, irrespective of the cause of their delay @flyairpeace. He equally said flight was airborne 2030 hrs but you are claiming he lied because it was airborne 2018 hrs. This isn’t showing the necessary empathy to the plight of your passengers at all, you need to do better @flyairpeace.”
Another user, @mr_yero, posted some screenshots of Air Peace’s messages and said that the airline was using the same excuse of “non-scheduled maintenance” every day, and that he had experienced a similar delay with a 4.00 pm flight that took off at 1.00 am. He wrote: “You can’t possibly keep using ‘Due to non-scheduled maintenance’ narrative every blessed day. How can 4.00 pm flight be taking off at 1.00 am? @flyairpeace,with all the insecurity issues in Nigeria Just to maximize profits at the expense of our safety. I get una 4 mind.” Air Peace has not responded to these comments as of the time of this report. The Explainer recalls that the Federal Government through the Ministry of Aviation and Aerospace Development has been insisting on taking measures to protect the rights of airline passengers. In November 2023, Minster, Festus Keyamo Keyamo disclosed that the ministry had set up a committee to ensure the protection of the rights of consumers. He stressed at the time that if the reason for flight delays and cancellations is the fault of the airlines, compensation must be paid to passengers.
