The Former President, National Association of Nigeria Travel Agencies, NANTA, Mr. Bankole Bernard has called for a central data system to be put in place for both the regulators and operators to share information.
This is to ensure that, both parties are not forced or made to get information from different sources.
Mr. Bankole in an interview during the 25th conference of the League of Airports and Aviation Correspondents LAAC in Lagos said, if airlines were called on to codeshare and interline, the regulator and operators must have a system to get information real time.
According to him, for meaningful collaboration to happen, there must be a meeting point where stakeholders can rely on information coming from one agency to the other.
“The earlier we have a central data system the better for us, agencies, captains for the industry and even the reporters that will want to rely on the data that they have gotten”.
Mr. Bankole who is also, the Managing Director of Finchglow Group, emphasized that, until this was put in place there would be no progress.
“But when you look at it, we have a disintegrated system as it were. Until we integrate the system to a point that we all know that the information that I am getting is factual, then we will not move forward”.
On policy implementation, got airlines and travel agencies, he said, ” the truth is that policy implementation can never be overemphasized. It is something that has to be on a continuous basis. Over the years, many policies have been formed but how well have they been implemented? How has it reflected on the industry and lives of the people involved? I think we have to shift focus to the impact over the years”.
He adds, “As I sat there, I realized that the Act that governs NCAT was enacted in 1964, whereas all others had been reviewed lately. How come the one that affects industry personnel has been abandoned for decades? It shows that we pay very little attention to the workforce in the industry and that explains why we more often export that aspect of the aviation business. We need to go back to the drawing board and make sure that the personnel are well trained”.
“As at today, we only have 20 accredited training organisations in Nigeria, to serve a population of over 200 million people. It is not that people are not interested, but there are no enabling laws to attract investors into this critical aspect of the aviation industry. I think we need to pay more attention to issues that affect human factors in the industry”.
