allAfrica.com: Nigeria: Passengers Groan Over Flights Cancellations, Delays
It's not just Arik unfortunately, so really noway to avoid this issue.
Abuja/Lagos — Flight delays, rescheduling and cancellations are now a common feature with the Nigerian aviation industry and air passengers are miffed at what some of them describe as the airlines' insensitivity.
Some airlines that have experienced flight delays, rescheduling and cancellation in recent times include; Aero Contractors; IRS; Dana Air; and Arik Air among others.
Just yesterday, Aero rescheduled a flight from Abuja to Lagos. It announced in a text: "This is to inform you that our flight AJ136 from Abuja to Lagos on the 4th of January 2012 has been rescheduled to 20:50HRS due to operational reasons."
Aero had Tuesday cancelled another flight from Enugu to Lagos and advised Enugu passengers to go to Owerri to board another flight to Lagos.
Last Friday, passengers who are supposed to fly IRS flight IS 3308 from Abuja International Airport to Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano, were stranded at the Abuja airport for hours.
The departure time for the flight was 3.15pm local time and up till 9.30pm there was no flight to convey the passengers, Daily Trust gathered.
A passenger, Ibrahim Mohammed Jirgi, the MD/CEO of Triple Cee Media Limited, who was supposed to follow the fight complained and demanded an apology and compensation from the airline.
Another passenger, a deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Suleiman Barau said he was dissatisfied with the treatment.
Other passengers affected include a former deputy governor of Kebbi State, Alhaji Mohammed Suleiman Argungu and some senior police officers.
Argungu said: "We are disappointed with the treatment. There was no apology and no explanation given to us."
It is almost the same story with all the other airlines. A cross section of passengers who spoke to our correspondent yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport 11 (MMA2) expressed displeasure over the treatment from airlines.
"All the airlines are guilty of this ugly situation and have perhaps shown no remorse," a customer who preferred to be identified as Charlse O told our correspondent at Murtalla Mohammed International Airport 11.
"It is appalling the way the airlines delay or reschedule flights; sometimes without notice to passengers. It is unfair to us," said Mr. Joe A.
Aero Contractors, Arik Air and Dana Air didn't reply to our reporter's enquiry on the issue.
But IRS spokesman Yemi Dada told our correspondent that IRS airline flights are cancelled, delayed or rescheduled due to bad weather.
Also he said sometimes flights are cancelled due to VIP movement and once a delay enters into an airline schedule it rolls over because an aircraft flies several routes.
He said IRS briefs passengers if flights are delayed or rescheduled.
"Sometimes you may have an aircraft that has a technical problem, so you need to organise a rescue aircraft which probably was on another schedule. It is a common practice across the world. If a flight is cancelled we refund our passengers, if it is a link flight, we accommodate our passengers," he said.
An aviation engineer who works for Arik but wouldn't want his name in print explained that there are a number of reasons flights are cancelled and or delayed.
He said: "For instance by this time of the year, several flights are delayed, rescheduled or cancelled due to bad weather.
"For instance, on Sunday, Monday even Tuesday this week we experienced bad weather in different parts of the country. And when you have very low visibility due to harmattan dust, flights are cancelled for safety reasons. Some are reschedule to a time when the weather is good for flight operations.
"Another reason is that, airlines use an aircraft for several trips in a day. For instance, one aircraft could be schedule for 3, 4 or 5 flights per day. If one of the flights is delayed (due to air traffic congestion, late refueling, obstruction on the runway etc), the rest flights of the aircraft are scheduled and other routes are also affected - a multiplier effect down the chain.
"Talking about blocked runway, some few months ago a military aircraft had a bust tyre on the tarmac right at the interface between the local and international airport. On that day Arik Air's aircraft came from Accra, Ghana by 10am and was billed to depart for Jos by 11am. But because the military aircraft wasn't fixed early, the flight was delayed till 4pm when the aircraft was removed from the runway. This wasn't the fault of Arik, it wasn't the fault of weather and it wasn't the fault of airport management."
He also noted that sometimes certain flights are delayed to have all passengers from the connecting flights catch up with a flight.
He said: "This occurs mostly on international routes because airlines don't want to keep passengers in hotels and cut cost. Arik does this.
"Not fuelling aircraft on time also delays flights. For instance, Arik Air no longer enjoys fuel on credit from marketers because of its huge debts to them. It is no longer credit worthy before oil marketers. Thus, whenever Arik fails to pay for fuel in good time, the aircraft is delayed."
He further said that "at theyuletide period too, most airlines experience flight hitches because most of the crew members go on holidays particularly, expatriate pilots. This sees the airlines putting same crew on several flights and this affects flight schedules limiting flights to important ones.
"Another reason for cancelling flight is when an airline isn't going to get fuel in the destination it is going and can't fuel to and fro at economic rate, the flight is cancelled. This is because, if fuel is too much in the aircraft, you can't have many passengers on board."