A New Leaf From British Airways

Despite the belated explanation by the British Airways (BA) on the alleged cruel treatment it meted out to its Nigerian passengers recently, we remain baffled if not worried about frequent allegations of improper treatment of Nigerians made against the BA by its Nigerian customers. Something, we would imagine, must be wrong with the attitude of the British air transporter to Nigerians who patronise it.
The latest incident was as deplorable as it was avoidable. From what is in the press, the story can be told this way. A Nigerian deportee aboard a BA flight to Lagos on March 27 was put in handcuffs. Another Nigerian passenger who saw this odd spectacle protested against the inhuman treatment of a fellow national. For daring to do so he was thrown out of the plane and was detained by the British police. Unable to stomach this high-handedness, the other Nigerians aboard the aircraft rose up in protest. There upon, the British Airways ordered all passengers on board the Lagos-bound plane to disembark.
Since the incident was reported more than a month ago, the Nigerian government has protested to the British authorities in the hope that they would quickly investigate into the matter. Surprisingly, it was not until last Thursday that the BA management felt the need to offer what was meant to be both an explanation and an apology. According to the airline, its decision to offload all the passengers on the fateful day was “made in consultation with and on the advice of the United Kingdom police, and the sole aim …was to ensure the safety of our passengers, aircraft and crew.” The airline claimed that the behaviour of some of the Nigerian passengers on board that day was so violent that it would have been dangerous to keep them on board the flight. According to the airline, it was not only Nigerians that were involved. It was a mix of nationalities, including British and American citizens. The airways, however, eventually allowed about half of the passengers to re-board before the plane took off for Lagos. Those who were off-loaded, it said, were subsequently “offered overnight accommodation where appropriate and were rebooked on alternative flights.”
Prior to the latest incident, the complaint had been that the airline had often treated its Nigerian passengers, particularly those who fly in the economy class with less courtesy than they deserve. One particular letter from a BA flyer published in a number of Nigerian dailies accused the airline of racism.
While proving that may be difficult, it would seem that the BA opens itself to such allegations by the sort of non-chalant attitude it often displays to allegations of maltreatment of its Nigerian passengers. How could any one have known BA’s side of the story of what happened on March 27 if the airline had not explained. We see no reason why it should have taken the airline one full month before offering an explanation. Such indifference smacks of lack of regard for the feelings of the Nigerian people who felt aggrieved about what they perceived to be the ill treatment of their compatriots.
While we have no reason to doubt the airline’s account of the incident, we believe the issue of whether the Nigerian deportee should have been in manacles while on board the aircraft was not addressed by the airline. This was after all the basis of the protest by the Nigerian passengers. Did a deportee have to be so inhumanly treated? Would the deportee have been put in handcuff were he an American? These are the questions that the BA should have answered. To gloss over them is to suggest that they don’t matter. But that is wrong.
To avoid the sort of controversy and ill feeling that the event of March 27 has generated, the British Airways must learn to treat its Nigerian passengers with greater regard. It needs to turn a new leaf.