Arik Air pays late, 1/2 salaries

[Oba1kanobe]

Is Arik finally out of money? Whilst they've always been late paying salary, this month set a new record; 12 May. Salary is due on the 28th.

Also, the payment was only half of the normal salary, while expats got their full salary. No notice of any kind was sent out to explain the discrepencies.

When will the full salaries be paid? Will there be salaries on 28 May? Will there be a sickout? Strike?

Arik does't pay on time for virtually anything. Crews have been turned away (or locked in) their hotels for non-payment by Arik. The largest fuel supplier in Nigeria will not provide Arik any fuel due to non-payment. Aircraft aren't delivered, or sit on the ramp at the manufacturer, for non-payment. Landing and ATC fees not paid. Former contractor Denim not paid. Parts not paid for.

But, the chairman did recently take delivery of a new Bombardier Global Express aircraft. I wonder if there is another head of any airline in the world that has his own private long range jet?

The company has lost two MD's in the past year. The DFO resigned in April due to personal issues. The COO quit. The training manager quit. The head of cabin services and his deputy both quit.

It will be very sad if this is the model for future Naija air transportation.

[LittleMo]

If the head of cabin services was Roger J Whittle, and he's gone then run, he was COO of Nationwide and helped Vermin take it down. I say again ,run:}

[Oba1kanobe]

If the head of cabin services was Roger J Whittle, and he's gone then run, he was COO of Nationwide and helped Vermin take it down. I say again ,run


No, it was somebody different.

[NaijaNinja]

Interesting stuff, i've been hearing things but now its out in the open!

001's facing a dangerous path aggravating the locals because they work much harder only to get half-month pay!

Maybe its time for Nigerian Eagle (or whatever they are called these days) & the Orange lady to go shopping for machines down the road in GAT. Who knows what bargains lie waiting!

Now we know why the much-trumpeted delivery of several types of machines has not taken place.

I hope they don't owe CBN because that SLS is a dangerous guy! He could just remove 001 & replace him with Madam from the Orange house next door!

Oba, i hope its not a permanent state of things in Arik because it won't be funny.

[Oba1kanobe]

Just learned that the head of HR is also leaving. Head of maintenance left also.

[Oyindo]

hey maybe the rats know something we don't

[chuks]

The guys who started this Arik thing had previous form, didn't they? Where their money was coming from to fund this monster order from Boeing, the obvious lack of a viable business plan, who exactly was behind Arik... there is simply no way that such a shambles would ever get an AOC in a a properly-run environment, siimply because of this lack of transparency and accountability and if the wheels are now coming off, was that not something predestined?

Of course people were going to jump aboard to believe the promises in the face of all the warning signs but only for a while and perhaps only because of the lack of any alternative.

When you have seen a few dozen so-called airlines come and go in Nigeria this sort of thing begins to seem rather obvious but then I really do not need to believe in such things, being one of those who was "only [t]here for the beer." Otherwise I suppose I would have joined one of those "miracle churches" and tried to get into the local way of thinking to join the fun. As it is, this seems to show that there is reality and then there is Nigerian reality, two very different things.

You can probably add one more to the 40 or so failed airlines in recent Nigerian history and then move along, nothing here to be seen.

I would like to be proved wrong so please enlighten me but using logic rather than just the usual thuggish, insult-laden rhetoric. Am I mistaken in thinking that serious allegations of corruption were laid against some of the people backing this airline when it was just getting going, for instance? Was there really a carefully worked-out plan for using all these new aircraft that should come from this record order placed with Boeing, including funding for crewing, training and maintenance? It all seems very, very mysterious, how this whole Arik thing is meant to work and that suggests a scam to me but I could be wrong. Anyone?

[18left]

QUOTE CHUKS:there is simply no way that such a shambles would ever get an AOC in a a properly-run environment, siimply because of this lack of transparency and accountability.


Oh really,so what about fradulent baby branson/varsity express et al in the UK?

NIJANINJA,am sure these issue will be resolved,Arik has come a long way,i firmly believe they are here to stay,however they certainly need to reduce Mr J control,by bringing more people on board.

[chuks]

I think you will find that "Baby Branson" fellow was using another operator with a proper AOC to fly the trips, with his own company merely being a sort of glorified travel agency posing as an air operator. Anyway, he was very quickly out of business, wasn't he?

Aside from that one, do you have any other operations on the scale of Arik with so many allegations of fraud swirling around them that you can think of off the top of your head? This is the only one that comes readily to my mind.

In the States we had our own Frank Lorenzo doing some naughty things but he was taken out of the airline business for that in due course and of course the man we all love to hate, Michael O'Leary, just got his wrist slapped by the Italian regulators for not looking after Ryanair passengers properly during the recent volcanic ash disruptions. Both of these are as nothing compared to what I have read about Arik.

Here it is not my idea that Arik was founded on a very shaky basis; you had your own Nigerian muckrakers digging up stuff from Day One on that and they are still hard at work!

Would you care to tell us that you are sure the people behind Arik are straight and that their money is clean? All I know is "what I read in the papers," where they come across as having built this shaky edifice with looted, Nigerian state funds. That is just second-hand information of course so that perhaps you can set the record straight.

That we have crooks in the airline business elsewhere, yes, thanks, I have noticed that too but the subject here is Arik in Nigeria.

[Naijajet]

Chuks you generally seem to have problems with Nigeria, what is it? You always run in to drop negative contributions/info on nigerian threads. Havent you gotten tired of Nigeria yet?

[chuks]

Never mind me, what about the Ogahs behind Arik? Can anyone here please vouch for their bona fides? I am just brimming with curiosity over this remarkable airline after having read so much about the people behind it and all. It reads like a major operation yet it seems to have sprung up out of almost nothing.

Is it all down to jealousy and negativity, all the mean things we get to read about Arik when we just google that word? Really, please tell us what to think here, some of you with that insider's perspective.

Of course someone as negative as I am must necessarily surmise that Arik will vanish as rapidly as it appeared. Please do what you can, anyone, to prove just how wrong-headed it is to take such things as only paying half-wages or running behind on fuel bills (!) as evidence that the readies for this marvelous fleet of new Boeings might not be there after all, that this is just another will 'o' th' wisp, mirage, apparition or (I just have to say it) scam. Over to you!

Here it is, one day later and, nothing... Was it Sherlock Holmes who mentioned the dog that didn't bark in the night? I guess we just have to wait and watch to see how the tale of Arik unfolds then, since no one from Lagos seems ready to tell us that everything there is in order.

[Oba1kanobe]

Aviation Industry is Collapsing ? Experts Warn (http://businessworldng.com/web/articles/1429/1/Aviation-Industry-is-Collapsing--Experts-Warn/Page1.html)


It is interesting how little is said about the largest operator in Nigeria, Airk Air.


Top News Story 17 May 2010

Aviation Industry is Collapsing – Experts Warn
By Pearl Ngwama

THERE are increasing fears that the prevailing debt situation in the nation’s aviation industry will lead to the collapse of the industry if remedial measures are not taken.

Since the beginning of 2009, three domestic airlines have stopped flight operations as a result of inability to cope with the harsh operating environment. The airlines are Afrijet, Capital Airlines and Bellview Airlines. Before termination of flights, Bellview operated for 15 years.

Some airlines like Chanchangi and Nigerian Eagle have suspended flight to some airports they were hitherto flying into on account of the negative impact of the ravaging economic crisis on them. For instance, Chanchangi has suspended its flights to Owerri. Nigerian Eagle has also stopped flying both the Owerri and Kano routes.

Nigerian Eagle was recently acquired by Jimoh Ibrahim’s NICON Group. Nigerian Eagle which started as Virgin Nigeria was floated to fill the vacuum left by the defunct national carrier, Nigeria Airways.
The most troubling development in the industry now is the imminent collapse of Aero Contractors. Also, Chanchangi Airline, which before the emergence of Arik Air in 2006, had the most fleet of 11 aircraft, is today left with few aircraft.

Experts predict that unless drastic measures are taken, the remaining airlines may go the way of Nigeria Airways, Okada Air, Al-Barka, Sosoliso, ADC, Bellview. In the last 10 years, more than a dozen airlines have closed shop.
Captain Dele Ore, chairman of Aviation Round Table (ART) and former director of operations of the defunct Nigeria Airways, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent said with the current situation, more airlines will definitely go except the merger option is adopted.

According to him, no airline is strong. “I am not aware of any airline that is strong. The ones that appear strong do not have competent management,” he said. His words, “The situation is worse than what we are seeing and the survival strategy therefore is that whether airline chiefs like it or not they must merge, and pool resources together to become mega carriers that can stand the test of time. “If they continue the way it is now, they will not have the muscle for maintenance base, they will not be able to compete and will eventually collapse”, he said.

Chris Aligbe, former director with Nigeria Airways lamented that the industry is collapsing, posing a threat to the economy. He said, “Overtime we said it that the industry is collapsing but nobody believed us and that is what we are seeing now. None of the airlines can be said to be healthy. The airlines are dying and it is a threat to the Nigerian economy and aviation industry”.

[NaijaNinja]

I have to admit that i chuckle whenever i read comments attributed to these past-it 'experts'.

From what is out in the public domain, Aero's issues are to do with Capital Flight, an individual in a privileged position within Aero and Aero's major banker 'acquiried' past-it machines for ridiculous amounts and suddenly Aero owes $200m whereas documents have eloped!

So that means a company raking in tens of millions daily solely from online bookings will collapse imminently according to 'experts'.

Aero would have been very comfortable without the burden of these ghost loans because Aero is a cash cow that was milked by local owners, foreign technical partner and cowboys positioned to look after the cow!

Bellview was a one-man show, so anything goes there!

Afrijet simply tried their luck only to find out that the game levels have changed from the last time.

Nigerian Eagle as far as i am concerned have just been so unlucky and they might even be in the worst hands possible now, that remains to be seen. That would have been a solid airline!

Chan and the Gang is also a one-man show where anything goes just like okada!

Arik? That's a whole new ball game yet to be defined!

[chuks]

Why are you unable to define Arik? I thought airlines were supposed to operate in a fairly transparent way, when we can know pretty much anything we want to about any carrier in the First World. The problem I have with Arik is exactly this indefinable quality it seems to have, the mysteries surrounding its finances, ownership and all.

Can you lift the veil a tiny bit to give us a peek?

[JTrain]

I hope it is just a momentary blip for Arik.

They are the best shot at creating a quality airline for Nigeria. Fingers crossed this situation is resolved amicably for all parties involved.

[Spadhampton]

Maybe Arik just needs a reliable investor. Somebody that could drop a bundle of capital in a Nigerian bank for negotiating a controlling interest in Arik. Could you locate an investor for a 2% coordination fee Chuks?

or...maybe not a Nigerian bank....

[chuks]

It is 10%, not 2%! As a certain young man (going) by the name of Babangida once told me, "You ah an ignorant man!" In my case it was merely the lighting at Minna Airstrip I was ignorant of but here it is that sacred subject, money.

To be called "a ten-percenter," that I could live with but to be known as "a two-percenter," well, what is left, "shoe-shiner"? Please think of my feelings, sat here as a past-it never-was who never even made it to has-been, watching this collection of young thrusters forging their way into the glittering future. (Well, one that looks an awful lot like the glittering future of the not-so-distant past but then I would think that, wouldn't I?)

No, this is all rather mysterious, this Arik business. All I can think of is that it must be some sort of gigantic money-laundering scheme, one where they lose a really huge sum playing "Airline" but end up with a rather large sum that is all their own rather than being the property of some Nigerian state entity such as Rivers State Government. (I just picked that name at random, of course.)

I once sat there rapt and spell-bound as a well-informed local explained to me the mechanics of the local airline operations, how the lucky ones got dollars against naira at the official rate (way past the real value of the naira then) to assist them in setting up a viable local airline, went abroad and paid silly sums (on paper) for clapped-out aircraft, salting most of the dollars away in foreign accounts, came back to purchase naira on the black market and pay off the owings and "Bob's your uncle!"

After that all that was left was to let their operation limp along for a while until it could collapse, hopefully not killing more than one or two plane-loads of pax in the process.

Here I had been putting the failure of one local airline after another down to near-criminal incompetence, when it turned out really to be a rather sophisticated way to spin straw into gold! Okay, at the end of the day you did end up with those oil dollars gone and vanished into some rascal's overseas account but they just would have been grabbed by some other rascal anyway. It was not as if they were going to be spent on providing clean water, food for the hungry, rural healthcare or schools.

So, yes, not even an expat, never an expert, I just sit here pondering the yet-to-be-defined mystery that is Arik, wondering how it relates to pretty much every other local airline I saw rise and fall there in Nigeria. About the only clues we have for now are the various articles brave reporters have written, the rumours here of non-payment of owings and the persistent sheer nebulousness of this whole entity. It could be that there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this but I would not bet on that.

What I was told about was how it worked back when the naira had an official value, when that really was a license to steal that made this sort of thing child's play. Nowadays I am sure the airline game is still played, just in some very different, perhaps slightly more sophisticated way I do not know about but would love to be told about.

[Mr. Smith]

@ chuks, very talented.:ok:

[Oba1kanobe]

How Peter Odili Looted Rivers State Treasury To Set Up Arik Air - Nairaland (http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-32741.0.html)

How Peter Odili looted Rivers State - Nigerian Village Square (http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/articles/nvs/how-peter-odili-looted-rivers-state.html)

[oldtimersdisease]

.... purchase naira on the black market and pay off the owings and "Bob's your uncle!"

Chuks,

What did uncle Bob ever do to you? He's probably the oldest pilot still flying in naija :}

[dynamicd]

Sorry to digress any one know when arik will start LHR and JNB with the 330?

[Oba1kanobe]

Sorry to digress any one know when arik will start LHR and JNB with the 330?


Current Arik pilots were sent to training in Toulouse, France for training in January 2010. After 8 days of training, they were sent home, to be replaced with London based new hires.

Most (all?) of the cabin crew are London based, many coming from the HiFly / A340 contract.

This "Nigerian" company will not have a single Nigerian pilot on this venture. Some of the London pilots hired for A330 captain positions were in fact A320 First Officers, who could not get validations from NCAA. This is rumoured to be the final downfall to the previous MD, Jason Holt, who brought his former Air Force buddies on board who were not qualified, nor experienced.

Four of the first five who showed up went home on day two, when their hotel accomodations were found to be sub-standard.

To date, I believe there are 7 pilots hired who are going through the validation process, and are comfortably waiting back home in London for the first flight of the A330 with full pay.

Arik hasn't paid for the plane yet, nor any spares.

[elpilotofrances]

and the A340 has been sitting iddle for 2 nights in LHR, waiting for spare !! ( paid or not ??) leaving wenesday morning to LOS;;;

[Oba1kanobe]

What will happen when all the Nigerian carriers, except Arik, are bankrupt? Who will use the domestic terminal at Lagos?

Just another twist in the Arik story. They wouldn't pay the fees to use the domestic terminal, even if they were allowed to.

[fishpie]

New GM Cabin Services in place, New GM Tech arrives next month, new maintenance manager in place

A340 HMU alert in LHR, spares had to be shipped from Madrid after C check, delayed schd departure.

A330 arriving in next 7-10 days

[Oba1kanobe]

So, 28 May 2010 to 31 May 2010 ??? Good news; hopefully more accurate than this proclamation?

http://www.pprune.org/african-aviation/244041-arik-air-28.html#post4349016

25th August 2008, 13:30 #545 (permalink)

fishpie

5 Q400's being delivered in 2008 and 2 more in 2009
:rolleyes:

[fishpie]

a weeks a long time in politics, 2 years in aviation is a lifetime

[Hussar 54]

So the guys from Denim Air were correct, after all.....

I always tell my guys up in Europe ' Nothing surprises me any more down here...' but this latest news actually has - should have known better....

[NaijaNinja]

I hear payment delays is due to some in-house scams going on with claims for duty allowances etc., so, they put a freeze to any sort of full-blown payment until checks and balances are in place.

Whether true or not, people in the know should tell us.

[Oba1kanobe]

Part of the Boeing fleet is AOG.... no tyres !!!!