Baggage mishandling and pilfering by airlines’ staff and passengers are on the increase at the nation’s airports. According to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), it received 101, 209 complaints ranging from loss of luggage, baggage damage, baggage pilfering, delayed flights, and ticket refunds, among others, from airline passengers between 2008 and 2011.
Specifically, 17,769 cases were received in 2008, 24,288 in 2009, and 30,943 in 2010. The number however dropped marginally in 2011 to 28,209. A close source said this figure rose above 150,000 complaints in 2012.
This is despite a global report on baggage by SITA, an airport IT solution provider, which indicates that global rate of mishandled bags per thousand passengers fell by 1.78 percent in 2011. The report however indicates that cost per passenger rose by 1.61 percent when compared with the corresponding period.
Harold Demuren, former director-general of NCAA, said out of the 101,209 complaints received in 2008 to 2011, 94,231 were resolved and compensation duly paid to the affected passengers.
Analysts say the issue of pilfered and stolen baggage as well as loss of valuables by passengers may have to be linked to laxity and greed by airlines’ ground staff as well as lack of personnel training and non acquisition of new baggage handling technology.
“Airline staff who are left untrained for years tend to mishandle bags and expose them unnecessarily, thereby attracting attention of staff and passengers with ulterior motives who later tear the bags and remove valuables,” a travel analyst said.
He specifically called for requisite training on baggage handling and proper profiling before staff were hired.
“There should be proper profiling, you need to know the background of your staff, you need to know where he has worked before and probably why he left in order to minimise loss to airlines and passengers,” he pointed out.
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Olumide Ohunayo, a travel analyst, noted that while cases of missing luggage might be decreasing due to new technology, pilfering and mishandling were on the rise due to either passenger, airline or ground handling problem.
“Mishandling, pilfering and missing luggage is an airline problem world over that cannot be reduced to a Nigerian problem. Missing luggage is reducing by the day due to e-checking and facilities that reduced paper work and make tracing of such baggage easier,” he said, adding that mishandling and pilfering were still a problem world-wide and the blame could be shared between the ground handlers and airlines on one hand and the passengers themselves on the other, who would not truthfully disclose contents in their bags or come to the open glare of all in the terminal building to repack their bags.
BusinessDay learnt that cabin baggage pilfering by fellow passengers was equally growing.
“It is not an airline problem when passengers pilfer their fellow passengers’ baggage,” Ohunayo said, blaming passengers who mostly had refused to imbibe the e-payment gospel of the CBN and foolishly exposing the content of their bags at terminals and security checks.
“The increased security checks at almost all points before boarding, which exposes contents in bags and pockets, should make all passengers cautious of things they travel with in the cabin. Also, passengers should endeavour they weigh, pack and seal bags properly before coming to the airport. The agencies saddled with the responsibility of checking luggage should also be more discreet, rather than flagrantly exposing passengers,” he said.
Also speaking, John Ojikutu, another analyst, noted that the rate of baggage pilfering depend on the degree or intensity of security programme put in place at various level by responsible agencies handling the luggage vis a vis: airlines, airport authority and ground handling companies.
Recently, Garba Muhammed, president, Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), lost N150, 000 through pilfering on his luggage, while the luggage belonging to the secretary, Shuaib Liman could not be traced till date after travelling from Lagos to Casablanca aboard a Royal Air Maroc flight.
Muhammed said he could not ascertain whether the luggage was pilfered in Lagos or on arrival at his destination. The NUJ has since sued the airline.
Three weeks ago, at the Lagos airport, security personnel of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria arrested two passengers aboard Med-View Airlines when they attempted to steal N1.5 million belonging to another passenger.
The officials got wind of the incident when one of the cabin crew of Med-View Airlines engaged two passengers in hot argument over missing money inside the luggage of another passenger.
However, two of the passengers who were suspected by the passenger who raised the alarm, were subjected to body search and substantial amounts of money were found on them.
SADE WILLIAMS
