Entebbe International Airport (EIA) management may soon find itself in legal battles with several air operators seeking compensation over delays to allocate parking space to aircrafts commonly known as aprons in aviation language.
This publication has learnt that several air operators are now reportedly up in arms demanding for sweeping reforms following huge losses occasioned to them.
Some of the affected include UG Airlines, RwandAir, Qatar Airways, Ethiopian airlines, Fly Emirates among others.
Aircraft parking apron refers to that part of the ramp area immediately adjacent to the terminal intended to accommodate aircraft for purposes of loading or unloading passengers, mail or cargo, baggage, fueling, parking or maintenance.
Aprons management services help to regulate movement with the objective of preventing collisions between aircraft, and between aircraft and obstacles; regulate entry of aircraft into, and coordinate exit of aircraft from, the apron with the control tower among others.
CAA ON SPOT
At Entebbe International Airport, aprons management services is the role of Civil Aviation Authority not Uganda Airlines management. It falls under the directorate of Airports & Aviation Security (DAAS) and the director is Eng. Ayub Sooma. Under DAAS, then it goes down to the Airport Operations Office-airside services department headed by Chris Omondi.
The office of the General Manager, headed by former CDF and now Internal Affairs minister Gen.David Muhoozi’s Brother Emmanuel Barungi also plays a supervision role. The staff who direct aircrafts to park are called Marshallers. These signal the pilot to keep turning, slow down, stop, and shut down engines, leading the aircraft to its parking stand or to the runway.
Other staffers or Marshallers in this department include Kulthum Namataka (supervisor) who is romantically linked to Omondi, Allen Abaasa, elderly Michael Omaruic, Abby Magala, John Ogola, Zura Karungi, Alice Nabaduwa, Betty Kyoshabire, Norbert Luyombya, Philip Ssali, George Billy Etolu, Moses Asewu, Ziad K, Edward M, Prossy A, Emma O, Albert E, Shad S, Ecuru, Mukisa, and among others.
It has now emerged that over the time, there has been increased complaints directed to this department from stakeholders and clients over staff misconduct, negligence of duty, poor service delivery and escalating incident reports at airside operations section.
DELAY INCIDENCES
The latest incident was on 13th September 2022, when UG Airlines flight number 521 was parked without a Marshaller. There is also a Wednesday, September 7, 2022 incident where Uganda airline flight UR 711, aircraft type A330-841 Neo from South Africa arrived at Entebbe Airport about 0225hrs and waited on apron taxi lane looking out for any Marshaller for five minutes.
It is also reported that the Marshaller, after appearing, went on to allocate the same aircraft parking stand 09 where a sister airbus was already parked. There was also an incident on the same day where while parking 5X-NIL, the Marshaller did not take into consideration the safety separation distances.
In another incident an Emirates flight was forced to be parked by a ground engineer after the supervisor on duty, Namataka, reportedly delayed leaving her office. Sources also talk of a 19th April, 2019 incident which led RwandAir Flight WB435 to park without a Marshaller. Similarly, on April 24th 2019, an Ethiopian flight ET 334 was delayed for four minutes waiting for a Marshaller. There are many others.
SABOTAGE?
A number of staff under this section are now under probe after a report revealed that some incidents could be avoided. Cases of absenteeism, disappearance from duty and deliberate refusal to take supervisor’s work instructions have all reportedly led to this situation, putting the airport management under spotlight.
It has also been revealed that understaffing is a major challenge at this department with sometimes one person ends up manning a shift of three persons. Some staff also feel that someone is out there to just sabotage everything.
According to insiders, this is all about sabotage and in-house fights that needs to be addressed. That it is common knowledge at the airside department that there is a war between staff with higher academic qualifications and their shift leaders who lack some.
The latter now feel threatened coupled with leadership ineptitudes and as a result end up in witch-hunt and sabotage games.
We have also learnt that some officers are out there to push out others and fill the positions with their own. Forinstance Airport Operations Officer-Omondi’s two sons have reportedly completed apron management training and he is doing all he can to create space for them even if it means some people being shipped out.
We have also learnt that one of the bosses in this directorate, whose contract is expiring soon, is eyeing the Uganda airlines top job. Because of this, some of the incidents concerning Uganda airlines flights may be interpreted as deliberate to cast Jennifer Bamuturaki management in bad light.
We have further learnt that this same boss was also eyeing the CAA Director General Job before it was given to Fred Bamwesigye. Could the same boss be working underground to fail Bamwesigye’s CAA led management? This is a story for another day.
WIDER PICTURE
It is no secret that aircraft operations are prone to delays, many of which generate within airport ground handling services. Delay is a key point in air transportation activity. As a performance metric, it affects common policy concerns. Delay impacts passenger satisfaction and imposes costs.
Apron delays may be due runway capacity (departure queue delay), departure hold due to airspace constraint, arrival airport restricted acceptance rate, or when gate is not vacant for arrival flight.
Conflicting interests in the way these operations are managed concurrently by the airlines, the airport operator and particularly ground service providers have been pointed at as the major underlying issue. Divergence and conflicting priorities across organizational borders negatively impact the smooth running of operations, and play a major role in departure delays. As of April 2022, a total number of 18 different airlines are flying to and from Uganda, the only one flying from being the national carrier, Uganda Airlines. (DO YOU HAVE A HOT STORY (CHEATERS, DIVORCE, VIDEOS, CORRUPTION, LAND WRANGLES, EXPOSES …ETAL) YOU WOULD LIKE US TO PUBLISH? CALL/TEXT/WHATSAPP 0777959024 OR EMAIL redpeppertips@gmail.com)
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