An aviation expert,Grp.Capt.John Ojikutu has faulted the prediction of the chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation,Smart Adeyemi who said that very soon aircraft will be falling down from the Nigerian skies as a result of poor funding of the airlines.

According to Senator Adeyemi, to be able to remain in business, airline operators in Nigeria are cutting corners.

He made case for financial supports for the domestic airlines to ameliorate the hardship the operators are facing that is occasioned by the Covid-19.

Reacting, the one time Military Commandant of the Murtala Muhammed Airport,Grp.Capt.John Ojikutu (Retd) said “Distinguished Senator, you get me worried with your general line of thinking on the Nigerian domestic airlines.”

He said if truly the airlines are cutting corners, the searchlight should be beamed on the regulatory agency, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.(NCAA) that ensures that operators play by the rules.

“Seriously, if the airline operators are cutting corners, you should be more concerned with the quality of oversight from the CAA and not financial palliatives.”

“. You give most of” us stakeholders the impression that you legislators seem to be taking too much of secret lessons on financial palliatives from the airlines operators than you need to know from the civil aviation authorities especially from the NCAA.”     “If your concerns are about aircraft crashing, the place to begin is the NCAA not the budgets nor the CBN. The Nigerian airlines problems is not about covid-19; their problems began pre-covid-19 and don’t compare airlines of other countries; those are national or flag carriers and ours are not but PRIVATE” “. We once gave about five of ours #200bn at 6% from the CBN before covid, we got nothing  out of it, while we gave #19.5bn from private banks at 24% to six government aviation agencies”   “. The NASS has the records of these from two public hearing. Why are we doing these heartless of thinking on the people of this country? Please Distinguished Senator, stop the preaching of palliatives for the airlines speak about safe environment for them except, like Dr Demuren said, they want to be flying from their houses. “