By Umaru Fofana
"At the initial stage the government of Sierra Leone failed to quarantine those areas that were affected by Ebola; now the world is quarantining the entire country".
This was how a friend of mine remarked in reaction to the suspending of flights to Freetown by some airlines as the deadly outbreak took a sinister twist.
That tongue-in-cheek reaction may hold some agreement considering the ambivalence and sometimes downright inertia displayed by the authorities in handling the disease. But the reality of these suspensions is that it is a complete and utter knee jerk reaction by key players in an airline industry that should know better than anyone else, that in such situations you do not think with your emotions. Rather any decision or action must be well thought out. Otherwise it will be tantamount to throwing away your lanyard simply because your ID card affixed to it has expired or your fob has developed some techie problem.
When Arik Airlines announced that they were suspending flights to Sierra Leone because of Ebola, I laughed it off. Here is an airline that has become increasingly irrelevant in the aviation industry in Sierra Leone since the advent of Gambia Bird to the extent that it owes the Sierra Leone Airports Authority tens of thousands of dollars in debt. Of late its passenger flow has reduced considerably. So what flights have they cancelled or suspended and for which passengers?
And then ASKY followed suit simply to join in the chorus. That to my mind was simply a way of showing concern and interest for its passengers in a classic publicity stunt, following the death from Ebola of Patrick Sawyer.
Patrick was the Liberian American who died in Lagos days after he had collapsed just after alighting from an ASKY flight from Monrovia in Africa's largest city. You can see, even if not understand, the trigger for their hasty decision to stop their flights from flying to and from Monrovia and Freetown.
In all this I did not for a minute think British Airways - with its profile and strategic clout - would join in a chorus in which everyone is singing differently and largely out of tune. This is especially so because of the efforts the Freetown International Airport is making to address the situation. By introducing health safety measures at the airport including installing a non-body contact flash thermometer which reads the body temperature of passengers passing through the airport, the airport has shown a deep sense of seriousness. And while some airlines are helping provide the authorities with the necessary logistics and wherewithal needed to make this happen, it is inconceivable for British Airways to pull the plugs.
I learn that the decision was taken because the crew complained they had no area free of Ebola to stay at when they overnight in Freetown. Afraid of Ebola, essentially. Should they not have changed their timing to arriving at day time and departing shortly afterward? By the way why did they cancel the Liberia leg as well when BA flights do not overnight in Monrovia? This action has now left hundreds of passengers stranded throughout the world many of them on return tickets.
Ebola is not like a gun war where the protagonists will shoot down a civilian aircraft like it happened in Ukraine. Or send bombs to cause panic and damage. Ebola is a deadly disease, yes, but measures can ensure those suffering from it do not go pass the airport to board the aircraft.
Both the UN World Health Organisation and the International Air Transport Association have advised against suspending travel to Sierra Leone or any other of the effected countries.
With Nigeria also having declared the outbreak an emergency, it will be interesting to see how Arik will cancel or suspend flights into their own country, or how British Airways would boycott a country with such colossal passenger flow. May be it is the commercialism that has been put ahead of service to a people who need a real show of friends and partners with a stay-with-me mentality and attitude.
When Emirates Airlines suspended their flights to and from Liberia, it was amazing the US media coverage of it. I read a piece in Bloomberg News on the Emirates decision which had the nuances of complete disapproval of it. It looks therefore unlikely that Delta or any other US carrier would suspend flights unless the US government restricts travels from Liberia. That is what a former colonial master and all its interests would do for a former colony with which it has strong ties.
Air France would be the last major airline to suspend flights to Guinea, again because of its long-standing ties with that country. So for a British business interest like BA to pull the plugs off before other international airlines is inconceivable and shocking.
(C) Politico 07/08/14
(C) Politico 07/08/14
