- Max Air emphasizes commitment to safety as top priority, despite challenges, and expresses confidence in Nigeria’s regulatory authority
- Executive Director Shehu Wada highlights safety focus, recent incident handling, and founder’s dedication to Nigeria’s development through investments
On Tuesday, Max Air, one of Nigeria’s domestic airlines, stated that the airline would remain committed to safe operation, which has been its top priority since its inception.
“What we sell is safety, and we take pride in our sincerity and commitment to safe and secure operations, which we have guarded jealously since the beginning of our operation,” said Barr. Shehu Wada, Executive Director of the airline, in a chat with aviation correspondents.
He stated that despite attempts by some individuals and those he referred to as “fifth columnists” to drag the airline back, the airline would remain focused on providing safe and efficient flight services to Nigerians.
Furthermore, he stated that the airline has complete confidence and belief in the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) following the recent audit of the airline, claiming that the regulatory authority did an excellent job.
We will not allow anybody to drag us back. Our audit is open. We may not be perfect but safety is what we sell. We have been in operation over the last one decade without a single accident and that is because we continue to prioritise safety in what we do. We don’t joke with the safety of our passengers and crew, he added.
He recalled a recent incident involving one of the airline’s aircraft in which a large volume of water was discovered in the tank, claiming that it was an isolated case that the airline quickly noticed and decided to ground before the NCAA waded in.
According to him, after the NCAA cleared the airline to resume operations, it was grounded again to allow it to close other operational gaps.
He stated that the NCAA, as a responsive and responsible regulatory authority, has remained thorough in its regulation of airlines in order to maintain Nigeria’s airline industry’s international safety rating.
The NCAA has certified us and the NCAA would not want anything that would drag it in the mud in the discharge of its operation. When we noticed something was wrong, we were the first to announce we were suspending our operation before NCAA waded in and the NCAA came and it was thorough with their findings. When the NCAA noticed something was wrong again, they still grounded us until they verified everything.
Wada stated that the airline’s founder, Alhaji Dahiru Mangal, a renowned and astute businessman, would not be discouraged in his patriotism and commitment to contributing to Nigeria’s development through his investments in various sectors of the country, which has earned him recognition beyond the country’s borders.