MAY 08, 2023

FRSC advises Lagos-bound travellers to use the Ikorodu through Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode, and Epe for Lagos routes

The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has advised travellers using the Lagos-Ibadan expressway to explore alternative ways due to a road traffic crash along the route.

The Corps spokesperson, Bisi Kazeem, disclosed this on Sunday in a statement in Abuja.

Mr Kazeem said the crash involving a tanker occurred in the early hours of Sunday under the Ibafo pedestrian bridge on the outward Lagos section of the expressway.

He said the FRSC officers and some security agencies had been on top of the situation since the occurrence of the crash.

He added that the contents of the fallen vehicle had been successfully trans-loaded into another one while men of the Ogun State Fire Service had proceeded to refill their water tank.

"Unfortunately, some inpatient drivers who choose to drive against the flow of traffic from all available exit points have done so, thereby causing traffic jams.

"This is however, not only for the outward Lagos section where the RTC occurred alone but also, the inward Lagos section as well.

"All road users going into and out of Lagos are therefore advised to explore alternative routes.

"Such routes include Ikorodu through Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode, and Epe for Lagos bound vehicles, " he said.

He advised some to ply Abeokuta through Sagamu Interchange as well for their own good.

MAY 08, 2023

KEY POINTS

• American Airlines and the pilots’ union are negotiating a new contract.
• More than 99% of pilots who voted approved of allowing the union to call a potential strike, a step other airlines’ pilots have recently taken.

American Airlines pilots have voted overwhelmingly to allow their labor union to call a strike while the carrier said talks for a new contract are getting close to a conclusion.

Pilot strikes are rare and would require permission from the federal National Mediation Board. The vote doesn’t mean a decision to call a strike would happen immediately.

More than 96% of American’s pilots participated in the vote and 99% of them voted to allow the union to call a strike, the Allied Pilots Association said Monday.

The APA called the strike authorization vote in March as talks for a new deal dragged on. American Airlines CEO Robert Isom had said the airline was ready to raise pay to match rival Delta Air Lines, whose pilots approved a four-year deal earlier this year with 34% raises and other improvements.

“Today marks a proud milestone in our pilot group’s unity and resolve and an important step on our path to securing the contract we have earned and deserve — one that prevents management from operating at a discount to our competitors and includes our ‘must have’ quality-of-life priorities,” APA president Capt. Ed Sicher wrote to pilots Monday.

A spokeswoman for American Airlines said the carrier believes a deal is “within reach” and that a “handful” of issues are left to complete.

“The finish line is in sight,” she said in a statement. “We understand that a strike authorization vote is one of the important ways pilots express their desire to get a deal done and we respect the message of voting results.”

Including higher 401(k) contributions, at the end of a potential four-year deal at American, a captain flying narrow-body planes would make $475,000 at the top of the scale while the most senior captains of wide-body planes would make $590,000 per year, based on a recent contract proposal.

Pilot contract talks have been difficult throughout the industry, including at American, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines, as pilots seek not only increases in pay but quality-of-life improvements such as better, more predictable schedules as travel demand improves following the pandemic.

MAY 08, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- Companies from automakers to hoteliers keep on sacrificing sales volume – sometimes by design, sometimes by necessity – in favor of higher prices, a dynamic that will test the Federal Reserve’s efforts to rein in inflation. 

The latest set of earnings showed that businesses aren’t likely to walk away from a strategy Corbu LLC’s Samuel Rines calls “price over volume” adopted by certain industries at the height of the pandemic, when supplies and labor were both hard to come by.

Ford Motor Co. said this month it is aiming to maintain robust sticker prices, even if that means rolling fewer cars off its assembly lines. Lodging giant Marriott International Inc. has focused on increasing room rates, especially for corporate accounts. Southwest Airlines Co. is among US carriers that are pulling in record revenue as tight flying capacity is helping to keep fares higher.

With peak tourism season around the corner, this reliance on pricing power isn’t going anywhere. And it may be apparent in Wednesday’s consumer price index report, which economists surveyed by Bloomberg estimate will show the annual inflation rate was unchanged at 5% in April after falling for nine straight months. 

“It is going to prove much more sticky, prevalent and problematic for the Fed over the summer than people anticipate,” said Rines, an economist and managing director at Corbu.  

Auto prices are not far off record highs and the average monthly payment for a new car in March was $754 amid rising interest rates, according to Cox Automotive. That’s almost one sixth of the median post-tax income for US households. The price crunch will likely get more acute as carmakers push to convert their fleets to more expensive electric models.

The pricing tactics reflect lessons of earlier phases of the pandemic: When Ford and its rivals struggled with a chip shortage, they saw running with a thinner backlog of cars had profit upside. 

Unlike Ford, which is intentionally limiting manufacturing output, some airlines can’t fly at full capacity because they don’t have enough trained pilots and are seeing delays in receiving new aircraft and parts. Southwest, for example, has said it could have operated as much as 8% more flying capacity in March if it had enough pilots.

The capacity constraints, coupled with strong demand, are allowing the industry to command high prices, especially for flights overseas. Round-trip fares to Europe are averaging $1,032, or 35% above last year and 24% higher than pre-pandemic, according to travel search engine Hopper Inc. International fares should reach their highest levels in five years this summer, the Hopper data show. 

The lodging industry, meanwhile, has changed its playbook for the current consumer environment. Prices at US hotels increased by more than 10% in the first quarter compared to the year before, according to data from STR, a Costar Group company. Over the same period, though, occupancy rates increased by only about 6%.

One reason is the demand mix has changed, with leisure travelers returning faster than business travelers, concentrating demand on weekends. But owners also acclimated to running hotels at lower occupancy, a model that helps reduce costs because there are fewer rooms to clean.

“In the pandemic, the industry lost a lot of staff, and gained a lot of pricing power,” said Jan Freitag, national director for hospitality analytics at CoStar.

These service businesses are courting consumers who have been conditioned to put up with price increases after pandemic-related supply chain snarls drove up the cost of everyday staples.

Case in point: Kimberly-Clark Corp., the Dallas-based maker of Huggies diapers and Kleenex tissues, raised prices by 10% across all its categories last quarter. Sales volumes did fall by 5%, but its gross margin rose to 33% from about 30% a year ago.

“If the price goes up on bath tissue, it generally doesn’t mean you’re going to use the bathroom less, right?” Chief Executive Officer Michael Hsu said on its earnings call last month.

Rines, the Corbu economist, says that backdrop has led investors to expect companies to raise prices to become more profitable.

“What we’ve seen is companies across the board do that,” he said. “And if companies can’t do that, they’re getting hammered.”

Still, price-hike strategies can only carry service-sector companies so far. Consumers might balk, and some politicians and economists, including Rines, have already characterized the moves as opportunism because profits have risen alongside prices.

Diana Gomes, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst who covers consumer goods, said that for all the companies she follows, gross margin is still below what it was in 2019 – a signal their price hikes are largely only offsetting rising commodities and supply-chain costs.

Going forward, prices for services like travel and hotel stays are the biggest concern for the Federal Reserve.

That in part reflects that services companies rely more heavily on workers than manufacturers do, so they’re more affected by wage growth. And those gains have been relentless, up 5.1% year over year among private-sector workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

For the Fed, the challenge is to cool off a hot labor market while simultaneously sapping companies’ pricing power, said Kathy Bostjancic, chief economist at Nationwide Life Insurance Co. She sees consumers scaling back on spending a bit once they scratch their travel itch this summer, given rising costs. 

“It needs to be seen if companies can continue this pricing power,” she said. “My sense is that it fades.”

MAY 08, 2023

By Wole Oyebade (Lagos) and Joke Falaju (Abuja)

NSIB begins investigation

It was a chaotic scene at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja, yesterday, as Max Air airline had a serious incident on landing, and abruptly cordoned off the busy runway.

The emergency incident, which occurred at about 2:58 p.m., panicked onboard passengers, as much as it distressed all Abuja outbound and inbound passengers that were subsequently grounded for over seven hours.

The Guardian learnt that the Boeing 737 Max Air jet, with registration number 5N-MBD, and 149 souls onboard, took off from Yola Airport at 2:03pm, losing one of its left rear tyres.

An onboard passenger said the take off damage to a rear tyre was noticed by the passengers, “with many panicking and some started praying for safe landing.”

“The flight went well until it hit the Abuja runway, losing the second tyre, with more confusion for everyone on board. The roll was scary, and the left landing wheel was engulfed in flames.”

Emergency responders and Aerodrome Rescue and Fire-fighting Service (ARFFS), who had been intimated of the emergency landing, were on ground to put off the fire. All passengers and crew disembarked and safely evacuated on the runway.

Former President of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), Dr. Mike Ogirima, who was also onboard, gave an account of the incident, saying the tyre burst occurred after takeoff at Yola Airport.

Ogirima said: “We thank God. We are still on the runway, and the pilot has reassured us. He has called for the stairs, and we are now disembarking from the runway to be evacuated to the airport building at the arrival hall.

“We bless God because we have witnessed the pull-out of the tyre right from the airport in Yola, and we went into a prayer session. I never announced it as a surgeon, so as not to cause any panic, but we bless God.”

Officials of the Abuja Airport, when contacted at 5 p.m., said efforts were on to usher in a heavy duty crane to safely tow the damaged equipment off the runway, and have the same reopened to domestic and international flight operations.

“As it is, we cannot just move the aircraft that has lost a landing wheel on the runway. It requires a lot of effort, but we are trying to do that as soon as possible,” one of the aerodrome engineers said.

General Manager, Public Relations of the Nigeria Safety Investigations Bureau (NSIB), Tunji Oketumbi, said the runway was temporarily shut for repairs.

Oketumbi confirmed that the aircraft busted two tyres, but has been safely evacuated from the runway.

He added that NSIB officers were probing the incident, and details would be made available to the general public.

As at press time yesterday, Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, tweeted that the runway was due to be open in about an hour.

MAY 08, 2023

The Biden administration is working on new regulations that would require airlines to compensate passengers and cover their meals and hotel rooms if they are stranded for reasons within the airline's control.

The White House said President Joe Biden and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg would announce the start of the rulemaking process Monday.

The rulemaking pledge continues a push by the Democratic administration to require airlines to improve customer service, and it comes just weeks before the start of the peak summer travel season.

The aim of the rules would be, for the first time, to require airlines to pay compensation beyond a ticket refund and to cover expenses that consumers incur, including rebooking on another flight, if the airline causes a cancellation or significant delay.

“When an airline causes a flight cancellation or delay, passengers should not foot the bill,” Buttigieg said in a statement.

Currently, when an airline cancels a flight for any reason, consumers can demand a refund of the unused part of their ticket and certain extras that they might have paid to the airline, such as fees for checking a bag or getting a seat assignment. Airlines often try to persuade consumers to accept a travel voucher instead of a refund.

After widespread flight disruptions last summer, the Transportation Department posted an online dashboard that was designed to pressure the airlines to improve customer service. The site lets consumers check each airline's policy on refunds and compensation when flights are canceled or delayed.

Each of the 10 largest U.S. airlines quickly promised to provide cash or vouchers for meals when a cancellation forces passengers to wait at least three hours for another flight. Nine of the 10 — all but Frontier Airlines — also promised to pay for accommodations for passengers stranded overnight.

Questions arose again around reimbursing consumers for out-of-pocket costs after Southwest Airlines canceled nearly 17,000 flights during a December meltdown in service. The Transportation and Justice departments are investigating whether Southwest scheduled more flights than it realistically could handle.

The Transportation Department says it is working with the airlines to reduce cancellations and delays this summer, when air travel could exceed pre-coronavirus pandemic records.

A report last month from the congressional Government Accountability Office blamed airlines for many cancellations, but the Federal Aviation Administration has also created disruptions due to technology outages and staffing shortages. The FAA recently encouraged airlines to reduce flights to and from major New York airports this summer because it doesn't have enough air traffic controllers at a key facility.

MAY 08, 2023

(Bloomberg) -- President Joe Biden plans to announce that the federal government is drafting new rules that could require airlines to provide meals, hotels and additional compensation to travelers on canceled or severely delayed flights ahead of an expected crush of summer travel.

The president will announce the effort — which will also seek to force airlines to improve the availability of customer service during periods of widespread flight delays or cancellations — at an event Monday at the White House alongside Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. 

The administration will also roll out a new version of a Department of Transportation website - FlightRights.gov - that shows which airlines already offer compensation to travelers experiencing delays and cancellations, according to a White House official who requested anonymity to describe the effort before it was announced. 

The regulatory push comes as the Transportation Security Administration has said that it expects air travel this summer to surpass pre-pandemic levels. Airlines struggled to ramp up during last year’s summer, prompting tens of thousands of delays and cancellations. Winter travel was marked by a meltdown of Southwest Airlines Co.’s technology systems that left hundreds of thousands of travelers impacted.

The Biden Administration rolled out an initial version of the dashboard last year, which prompted the majority of US airlines to explicitly guarantee meals, rebooking services and accommodations when flights were canceled for reasons under an airline’s control. Earlier this year, the administration expanded the dashboard as part of an effort to pressure airlines to drop seat selection fees for children sitting next to accompanying adults.

Because of the changes airlines have already made unilaterally, the practical impact of the regulatory effort for travelers and airlines may be muted.  

Frontier Airlines Inc. is the only major US carrier that doesn’t guarantee complimentary hotel accommodations and ground transportation for passengers affected by a controllable overnight cancellation, according to government data.

But the White House is hoping the effort prompts airlines to expand existing benefits, the official said, noting that virtually no airlines compensate passengers beyond offering refunds. Travelers in Europe and Canada can apply for cash compensation for certain flight delays and cancellations caused by things within the airline’s control, and consumer advocates argue those penalties lead to fewer delays than experienced by US travelers.

MAY 09, 2023

KADUNA, Nigeria, May 8 (Reuters) - Gunmen abducted 40 people from a church in a remote village in northern Nigeria, a local Christian group said on Monday, in the latest attack against worshippers.

Armed gangs, known locally as bandits, have been abducting people from villages, schools and highways mostly in the northwest of the country, where government security is thin.

Reverend Joseph John Hayan, chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Kaduna state, said the attack took place on Sunday when gunmen attacked worshippers during a service at Bege Baptist Church, in Madala village, in Chikun local government area.

Chikun is among two districts in Kaduna where ransom-seeking armed gangs are most active.

Hayan, however, said 15 of those kidnapped escaped from their captors on Sunday night.

"We have not heard any contact for ransom or anything from them (gunmen) concerning the remaining people and we pray that the abductors would be merciful to release the remaining 25 back to their families," Hayan said.

A Kaduna police spokesperson did not respond to calls and messages to their mobile phone.

Reporting by Garba Muhammad, Writing by MacDonald Dzirutwe, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne

MAY 10, 2023

Foriegn airlines operating in Nigeria have again raised Rate of Exchange, (RoE) from N610 per dollar to N634 per dollar.

The implication of moving the airline FX rate to N634 per dollar implies that passengers would be paying more for international fares.

The development follows the rising of foreign airlines’ trapped funds which have now surpassed $800million.

Airlines trapped funds in Nigeria saw a sharp rise from $744million in March to $802 million in April despite several means deployed to avoid collection of their funds in naira, so as to reduce the amount of money trapped in Nigeria.

It was also gathered that the rate has risen three times in three months. In March 2023, the rate was increased from N460/$ to N551/$ and also in April to N610/$. In May it has risen to N634 per dollar.

Bankole Bernard, chairman of Airlines and Passengers’ Joint Committee (APJC) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) who confirmed the rise said the N634 new rate is slightly lower than the black market rate.

MAY 10, 2023

BY  Udora Orizu in Abuja

The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has blamed the scarcity of passport booklet on the country’s policy on foreign exchange (FX).

The Comptroller-General (CG) of the service, Idris Jere, made this known at a public hearing organised by an Ad hoc Committee of the House of Representatives in Abuja, yesterday.

The committee was setup by the House to investigate the proposed domestication and processing of Nigerian international passport.

Addressing the lawmakers, the CG said the NIS generates FX from sale of passport abroad, but does not have access to FX to import booklets despite the funds generated.

He said Iris Smart Technology Ltd, the foreign company responsible for producing the passport has done very well given the conditions.

He also said that the presidential directive to commence production of passport locally by the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting (NSPM) was a welcome development.

He, however, recommended that a proper exit plan be put in place for a smooth handover from Iris Smart Tech to prevent any breach of contract and production process.

“Foreign exchange regulation policy of the government and CBN’s refusal to grant access to FX for importation of the passport booklet. We generate forex from sale of passport, but we do not have access to buy same booklet and that is a challenge for NIS.

“The factors responsible for scarcity of passport include the inability to setup passport producing factory in Nigeria as its production is done abroad.

“The major seven component used for producing passports are sold in international market and the assemblage and production are done in Malaysia.

“This makes the production process solely dependent on FX and the scarcity of FX due to the fall in naira value is of major concern,” the CG said.

On his part, the Managing Director of Iris Smart Technology Ltd , Mr. Yinker Fisher, told the lawmakers that before the advent of the e-passport system, the Nigerian passport was marred with embarrassing irregularities and inconsistency under the watch of NSPM.

According to him, as a result of lack of capacity, NSPM outsourced the process to three companies which led to so many irregularities including passport colour and numbers.

He said under the administration of Iris Smart Technology Ltd, Nigerian passport was now regarded as one of the best in the international community.

The managing director said human factor in the process of producing passport is highly limited saying that even passport approval is granted by biometric.

He, however, alleged that there were plots by companies who lost the contract to produce the Nigerian passport at the bidding stage and some people on the corridor of power to thwart production by Iris Smart Tech.

MAY 10, 2023

A new indigenous airline company, Rano Air, has flagged off its flight operations in Kano State with five aircraft to fly from Kano to Abuja…

By      Zahraddeen Yakubu Shuaibu

A new indigenous airline company, Rano Air, has flagged off its flight operations in Kano State with five aircraft to fly from Kano to Abuja to Lagos and other destinations within Nigeria.

The airline company, owned by Kano-born petroleum mogul, Auwalu Abdullahi Rano, popularly known as AA Rano, came into being after three years of preparation.

Speaking at the grand flag off ceremony at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), the Project Director of the airline, Barr Usman Mohammad Oloje, disclosed that the project started in 2020.

Oloje explained that in 2020, when AA Rano, who is the Chairman of the Rano Group of Companies, developed the idea of establishing an airline business and instructed him (Oloje) to incorporate and register an airline with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and facilitate its formation and operations.

He said, “Alhamdulillah! All the five aircraft have been fully maintained with the very high standards set by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) and in compliance with ICAO and other international civil aviation monitoring organisations and regulations and have been passed by NCAA for use by the public.”

He assured Nigerians of quality service and commitment to excellence and convenience, saying, “Rano Air will treat Nigerians like royalty in fulfillment of its desire to create a new and exciting flying experience, as Nigerians will in no distant future be able to fly directly without a stopover from Kano, Abuja and Lagos to all the viable airports in Nigeria in comfort and on schedule.”

In his remarks, Kano State Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, said the establishment of the airline was history repeating itself as the first aircraft in Nigeria landed in Kano State.

The governor said the airline would be a viable business that would boost commercial activities of Kano and by extension Northern states.

Earlier, Alhaji AA Rano expressed gratitude to Allah for making the business come to fruition.

He thanked Ganduje and his administration for their support towards the success of the company.