CEO Of Nigeria’s Air Peace Claims He’s Scared Of Flying, Only Trusts “His” Airline

We’ve seen a lot of airline executives make questionable claims in recent times, though this takes the cake…

Air Peace CEO says he often flies solo on Boeing 777

Allen Onyema is the CEO of Nigerian airline Air Peace, which has a questionable safety record (more on that in a bit). In a recent interview, Onyema talked about his rather unusual flying habits:

• Since Air Peace was founded in 2014, he has never flown on any other airline
• Even if he needs to go somewhere like Brazil or the Caribbean, he’ll take a Boeing 777 from his carrier’s fleet, which can carry up to 400 people, but he’ll travel alone
• He does this because he has “flight phobia,” but when he flies with Air Peace that fear disappears, and he doesn’t feel scared
• Before he founded Air Peace he dreaded flying, since five or so days before travel he’d start to get nervous, but that has gotten much better

What a perspective for an airline CEO to have!

Onyema is quite the character. We’ll ignore how he has been indicted in the United States for bank fraud, money laundering, and obstruction, as that’s besides the point.

But beyond that, this small airline has had more than its fair share of safety issues. As Sean M. points out above in his response to that story:

Remember that this is the same guy who in 2019, the Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau found was “willfully failing to comply” with the Bureau’s regulations following “failure to report incidents that resulted in structural damage” and “intentional erasure of Cockpit Voice Recorders prior to reporting incidents”. It was further stated that he “lacks the full understanding of the statutory mandates”.

Heck, I’d have a phobia for flying after reading that report too

I understand that a fear of flying isn’t necessarily rational, and I don’t want to make fun of people with those kinds of phobias. However, “I need to fly a Boeing 777 all by myself because I’m scared of flying” gives very strong mega-church pastor prosperity gospel vibes.

Remember when Jesse Duplantis said he needed a new $50 million private jet because he’s famous, and when he flies commercial people come up to him and ask him to pray for them, which was “agitating his spirits?”

Bottom line

The CEO of Air Peace claims he has a fear of flying, but that only applies on other airlines. When he flies on Air Peace he feels safe (despite the carrier’s less than perfect safety record), so he likes to fly a Boeing 777 as the only passenger, no matter where he needs to travel to.

What do you make of the comments of Air Peace’s CEO?