Be prepared for a life and culture that you have never dreamed of.
I have worked for airlines who apparently knew what the 'big picture' was. That they didn't know it will come as no surprise to all our readers.
Arik, however, take the big picture idea to new levels. Arik have no idea whatsoever (honestly) and just buy aircraft with no idea how they will operate them.
To be fair on the 737 fleet there is a semblance of an operation but it is dogged by every inefficiency possible. Rostering is indescribable - good trips like LHR require a bribe of sorts to a certain person in rostering (good idea to call him on 'Friday') I will never engage in that sort of thing. No one rostering officer makes a note of what they have or have not done and so the result is complete and utter chaos.
A baggage check is required by each pax before they board. It took me a few months to realise that these checks were not being done when it was raining - they would argue that these checks were not required when it was raining! (like most of the time)
You will find that most (not all) of the people you have to deal with on the ground at Arik are lazy and deceitful (they have been known to tell the odd lie - something like if you fly this aircraft today I promise you will be be paid today). I'm sorry to say this but when I went to LOS I kept an open mind about all the folk there - sadly I have come away with the opinion that Nigeria has a culture of lying with a few exceptional individuals.
The whole country is a basket case in my view and I hope I never set foot in the place again.
Arik is a microcosm of the the whole country and culture.
I apologise to any innocent Nigerians I may have offended, in particular I apologise to the majority of Arik Captains and F/O's who are generally decent and honest folk who continually struggle against Arik and the general Nigerian situation (awful ATC etc, etc) in order to provide a safe passage for their passengers. These folks do a magnificent job under the circumstances and in my view should be rewarded with double the pay etc and be paid on time obviously.
Nevertheless I stand by my comments about the prevalent culture in Nigeria. You have to live and work here to really understand how bad it is.
Kind regards
Exeng