The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has held a two-day meeting with indigenous carriers on the issue concerning the process of re-certification, as the airlines would now be certified on the 2009 Air Operator Certificate (AOC).

The re-certification is a process of reassessment to ensure that all the regulations for AOC are met by the airline and new items are also added by the operators.

But the meeting, which lasted from Tuesday to Wednesday, raised other issues, including the award of AOC to two new airlines, which industry experts said should not have been done under an acting Director General.

Sources at the meeting told reporters that there were lots of complaints because NCAA awarded AOC to two airlines but at the forum NCAA denied that it had done so, as the operators argued that according to regulations, AOCs should be awarded by a substantive Director General of NCAA.

“There were a lot of complaints at the meeting because NCAA gave out AOC to two (name withheld) airlines and they knew it was wrong for them to do that now because the regulation says that AOCs are given under a substantive Director General of NCAA; not under an acting Director General. We have to follow international standards; an acting Director General should see to the day to day activities of the Authority and should not spearhead agreements or issue AOCs.”

Another operator who attended the meeting also told THISDAY that such AOCs could be contested in court and that the federal government could be sued if an airline that obtained its AOC from an acting Director General is involved in an accident.

But NCAA source told newsmen that it is not the Director General that works on AOC, and that it has five phases, which include security, the Ministry of Aviation and others.

“It is only reasonable to say that the Director General presides over the award of AOC, being in charge of the Authority but the award of AOC follows a process and it goes through five phases that include security department and the Ministry of Aviation. It is mainly done under the Director of Air Worthiness and Standards,” the NCAA source said.

The Director of Operations usually forwards the report to the Director General because he is in charge of the Flight Safety Group; the Director General would read the report and sign and then the AOC will be presented.

It was also gathered that one of the airlines that was issued AOC has been long in waiting because the airline did not provide the right aircraft but now under the Acting Director General, the approval was done so suddenly that the acting Director General, who was in Abuja, had to direct that the document should be brought to Federal Capital Territory for him to sign.

Many industry insiders frowned at this and said the award of AOC follows stringent safety and security conditions that must be met by the airline demanding for the certification, but when hurriedly done, these conditions may be skipped.
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