FAAN to take- over 3 state-owned airports

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) is set to absorb another three state-owned airports under its wings and is considering ways of making more airports viable as it is not economically feasible to run an organization of 22 airports where only two are viable.

The airport managers have also identified staff attitude to work as a reason for most of the concessions within the organization, stating that with over 8, 000 staff, the airport managers should have no need for concessionaires if everyone was optimally performing, especially those in the commercial department.

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Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Rabiu Yadudu, made these known at Ota, Ogun state at a three- day FAAN unions conference 2020 with the theme: “Collective bargaining: A tool for superior organizational performance.”

According to the FAAN helmsman, the airport managers have written bodies including the National Tourism Board, Airline Operators of Nigeria and other stakeholders to proffer ideas that would make the airports viable.

Yadudu said, majority of the airports are not viable and are basically siphoning money off the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos and occasionally, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and the Port Harcourt International Airport, stating that the authority cannot be running the organization with only two viable airports

“We have written to some outside bodies to work with us with the aim of getting a committee that will help us get many of our airports viable. Our primary source of revenue is just Lagos and maybe Abuja and Port Harcourt; we cannot be effectively running an organization as big as FAAN based on two airports.

“We are going to get three more airports within the next few weeks, three more already confirmed. So we have to set up a committee to explore ways to make them viable,” he said.

FAAN consists of 22 airports of which no fewer than four are major earners and with the three new airports coming under FAAN’s purview it brings the number to 25 airports with states like Ekiti, Anambra and others indicating plans to build their own airports.

Meanwhile the FAAN boss decried that despite the agency having about 8, 000 staff majority of the workers were not willing to work, stressing that the same unwillingness led to the concessioning to avoid diversion of funds, from the revenue points of the agency to concessionaires.

He specifically mentioned a particular airport, which he said had 49 staff in a department, but most of the work were done by casual workers and called for attitudinal change for staff, stressing that without this, the industry which is based on the tripod of security, safety and comfort would not attain its desired status.

He said: “We have a lot of staff and personally, I want to reduce the amount of concessions we have so that we can put more people to work. Just as we want to do that, we also need to deal more with our people, especially those who don’t want to work.

“We have 8, 000 personnel. We have the number in FAAN, but we don’t have the men and women to do it. In fact, 8, 000 is more than enough, with 6, 000 workers, we can do all we need to do, but the men and women that will deliver and we don’t have them.

“There is a particular airport, we have about 49 staff in a particular department there, but unfortunately, most of the work are being done by casuals. So, where are the others? So, people must change their attitude to work.”