NCAA charges cabin crews on safety, professionalism at workshop

L-R: Ade Onadofin, managing director, Aeroconsult; Bukola Teriba, regional manager, NCAA, representing Chris Najomo, director general, civil aviation (NCAA); A.W.O.Williams, representing director, licensing, training; Augustine Eboigbe, acting general manager, dangerous goods; and Sam Mokwenye, flight safety inspector, at the annual cabin safety workshop held in Lagos, recently

Sade Williams/Business a.m.

Airlines’ cabin crews in Nigeria have been told to rise above culture, personal attitude and display professionalism in their duties.

Chris Najomo, acting director general of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), represented by Bukola Teriba, regional manager, made the call at the first-ever  Cabin Safety Workshop with the theme, “Culture, Attitude and Cabin Safety”, held at the NCAA’s annexe at Lagos airport. Najomo said the essence of the training is to ensure that cabin members prioritise safety in all aspects of their duties.

The sector is highly regulated, the NCAA chief said, noting that it requires everybody playing their role for the ultimate aim of achieving safety.

“This is the first time this is happening, it has never happened before, you know that our main objective in this sector is safety and that is why we are having this training; we want to impart knowledge into the operators and their cabin members according to International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) standards.

“Cabin crew members are not just there to serve coffee and meals, there is laid down training that these members have been attending and will still attend, NCAA is all about training and retraining, safety is not just constant but continuous, safety is a continuous impartation of knowledge. We will continue on this, we will continue to ensure that the airspace is safe because the role of the cabin crew is not just to serve meals but to keep checking the cabin to prevent accident, incidents. They are to give passengers confidence that they are safe, they are very useful to the flight crew, that is why we pay attention to their training,” he said.

Maria Umoh-Odor, head, cabin safety instruction, NCAA, said  the authority plans to make it an annual programme as part of the training and retraining process as enshrined in ICAO standards.

“As the theme implies, ‘Culture, Attitude and Cabin Safety’,  culture is  a way of life of the people, what we want to bring out today is that as a cabin safety professional, you should rise above your culture, above your attitude to be  professional, we are focussing on professionalism.”

Paul Ogwuru, a resource person who is attached to the Presidential Air Fleet Crew urged operators to be up and doing in crew resource management implementation, adding that all operators must be on the same page with the regulatory authority.

“Employers of labour must be partners in progress with the Authority by vigorously pursuing the demand for adequate training of personnel on maintenance of international safety standards,” he added.

The workshop attracted representatives from domestic airlines, including Air Peace, Aero, Azman, Overland Airways, Xejet, Arik, Bellagio Airline, among others.