In an extraordinary move driven by safety over profit, Nigeria’s largest airline, Air Peace, now grounds three fully operational aircraft daily to stand by for emergencies, a drastic but deliberate strategy that Chairman Dr. Allen Onyema says is already saving lives and rebuilding public trust.
Speaking passionately during a media parley with aviation correspondents at the airline’s Lagos headquarters on Wednesday, Onyema revealed the policy was quietly launched on May 12, 2025, after internal data linked most flight disruptions to issues beyond the airline’s control including severe bird strikes, poor airport infrastructure, and weather-related delays.
“We are losing capacity and turning away paying passengers every day,” Onyema admitted. “But it’s a price we’re willing to pay to avoid delays and cancellations and to protect lives. You need to be alive to complain.”
That sobering statement came just days after two dangerous bird strikes hit Air Peace aircraft within hours.
One of them, over Owerri, nearly ended in tragedy when a bird believed to be an eagle shattered the aircraft’s windshield mid-air and smeared it with blood, compromising visibility and threatening cabin pressure loss.
“The bird was huge bigger than my lap,” Onyema recalled. “If the pilots had climbed higher, there would have been decompression. Passengers could have died. But our crew knew exactly what to do.” The pilots immediately descended below 10,000 feet and diverted the flight, preventing what could have become a national disaster.
These emergency maneuvers, Onyema stressed, are no coincidence.
Air Peace pilots undergo specialized training, including a proprietary bird strike simulation module. “You don’t fly if you fail that module,” he said. “Foreign airlines may not go that far. But we do it because safety is our watchword.”
Despite its rigorous training and safety upgrades, Air Peace often finds itself blamed for delays.
Onyema pushed back strongly, arguing that public perception is skewed by the scale of the airline’s operations. “If we operate 100 flights and delay 10, that’s 10 percent. But if another airline delays 7 out of 24, that’s worse yet it doesn’t attract the same criticism,” he explained.
He also pointed out that only four airports in Nigeria — Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Kano — operate round the clock.
Morning weather delays often trigger a domino effect across the network, creating disruptions the public wrongly attributes to airline negligence. “Delays are not our culture. We delay when delay is necessary. We cancel only when safety is at risk,” he said.
Beyond aviation, Onyema used the occasion to address a deeper national problem — what he called the “pull him down syndrome” — where Nigerians undermine their own champions. Citing the attacks on business icons like Aliko Dangote and Abdulsamad Rabiu, he warned that sabotaging successful indigenous businesses hurts job creation and the economy.
“Private sector businesses are the real job creators. If you destroy them with envy and lies, you’re destroying the economy,” he said, calling for a cultural shift that uplifts instead of attacks.
Air Peace, despite facing over 115 bird strike incidents in five years including 43 in a single year continues to adapt by holding aircraft in reserve and restructuring operations. “We’re flying fewer passengers because some planes are idle. But it’s better than leaving travelers stranded or risking lives.”
In his closing remarks, Onyema appealed for patience and understanding from the flying public. “We’d rather lose money than lose people. Our message is simple: arrive safe, even if late. Lives matter more than profit.”
