Aero/vk/arik Nigeria

[alghaita ganga]

I will not fly Arik, I do not trust them and their check-in is chaos

Dodgy characters? Well EFCC thought it so. Allegations of money from dubios sources from Obasanjo, and Odili to mention some. Ask about Arumemi Johnson and the Port Harcourt power genration plant fiasco.

[ZAZOO]

$1.8Billion Dollars splashed out for everyone to see in the papers, folks running the whole shabang known to be doggy characters with Odili and Obasanjo known to be big investors in the airline and the EFCC is busy running around Kalu, Nnamani and co.

Talk to ya'll later, have to go fly some big iron this morning, wish me luck eh.

[NaijaNinja]

Zazoo, you are Topgun! You will come good with the Chunky Iron!

Come back and give us any funny story you encounter!

[chuks]

All I know...

is what I read in the newspapers. Will Rogers said that but perhaps he had been thinking of Arik at the time.

I have been away from Nigeria since late 2005 but I do see the odd tid-bit in the news about the place. I noted with interest the usual sort of financial scandal about one of the leading lights in the "new" airline scene, which reminded me not a little bit of the old airline scene I knew and appreciated.

All of you tight young studs blowing off steam about how it is all going to be onward and upwards from here on in, well, all I can say is, "Good luck!" You still have as close to a totally corrupt (Last time I checked Nigeria was third from the bottom in that international survey of corruption - this is not just some bigoted notion of mine.) system ruling your country as makes no difference; do you really believe, somehow, that aviation is going to be squeaky-clean and properly run in that environment?

That many individuals do their level best, well, yes! Not least, you can just have a think about some of the guys who are no longer with us after shaving corners. But as long as Nigeria is long on dodgy funds and short on accountability, aviation there is going to be about like everything else.

What became of the EFCC investigation of your Arik man then? It seems to have stalled. Funny thing, that. And if this so-called airline ever does get off the ground, let us see what becomes of it after just a few years. Want to bet it collapses in a welter of unpaid creditors and seized aircraft, just another flying elephant?

I have moved on, as it happens. I ate all my pizza, paid the bill in full and have gone over to cous-cous for now. Good luck with the developments in your local airline scene but don't lose touch with reality.

[BALEWA]

Thanks very much, got the point chuks and do us a favor will ya.

Do not come back I know you aint coming back though

[Alpha Bravo Bravo]

Chuks et al,

Jobs, yes we have good jobs now as Nigerian Pilots. We have never been this happy, and we will try to make sure it is sustained.That will be our quota towards rebuilding the sector. Whether it will be for a shortwhile, that is left to fate.

Talking about morality on the source of funds, we are not politicians. As long as we are not flying drugs, arms or stolen diamonds,we are ethically doing the right thing by flying the machines. Maybe the Pax should refuse to buy Arik tickets because the money used in buying the planes are alleged to be looted But hey, the money has been ploughed back into the economy, which is a new development, and not stashed to rot in accounts in Germany, Swiss, London, etc. And the developed world, where Chuks comes from, is no longer happy that their banks have lost 1.8billion USD as deposits, which they will lend out the money eventually to their multinationals, and as a result a continuous exploitation of the third world thrives.

But hey guys, nobody has proven Arik guilty. Go back to the basics, Innocent till proven guilty. Arik as a company is an individual different and SEPARATE from the Arik's Chairman.

Change is fast happening in Nigeria. We are marching towards becoming a large economy,and some people are not happy about it. Scared, yes perhaps, because those that know us, no our potentials.

[HavingSaidThat]

ABB,

Arik as a company is an individual different and SEPARATE from the Arik's Chairman.

If you're part of Arik, which you're probably not, you should know that Arik as a company is not at all SEPARATE from the Arik's Chairman. Arik is the Chairman.

How much power do you think the management of that airline has? From Managing Director and down. Not much, according to what's being filtered out through doors, windows and gates around the office building. And truly, if you would be the one sitting of top of an investment like we hear and read about, would you not make sure that you are in total control of the happenings? Of course you would. So in that respect you can sort of understand the main man.

The interesting question thou is how these expat managers can endure being "driven over", or deluted from power and made into figures on a piece of paper.

[NDB17]

Fellas,

I have no beef with Arik, but like some commentators here have said, it is not an organization that inspires much confidence.
We cannot separate the Chairman from the company considering his role in the Power Generating fiasco in Rivers State. Also, using alleged "misappropriated" funds to build a company does not create a level playing field with others who are investing legitimate funds.
As an observer, I keep thinking who in his right mind will park aircrafts for months considering the financial implications, particularly for a startup.
Even if the govt was funding the airline, their actions are not the most financially sound and reflects poor management decisions.
You would think with the crew situation, they would slow down and consolidate before launching out. But they seem to be operating on the principle of "Jack of all trades, master of none"

Just my 2cents

[chuks]

Thuggishness, anyone?

Just another of my fans checking in there, I suppose.... You ever see me again at dear old Murtala Muhammed Airport, just pop over and give me your message in person, when I shall be happy to see you again. Otherwise, stop by and see me at my new home, when the mint teas shall be on me.

If you do not like "fair comment," well, sorry for you! Any particular place has its problems, even the ever-so-wonderful US of A. What is under discussion here is a rather strange start-up "airline," Nigerian-style, that seems to be using looted funds and no particular business plan. Does this make life hard for serious, professionally-run local operators such as Aero Contractors? Probably! So in the context of the local airline scene improving I think that Arik is a real step backwards.

I was kept pretty busy in Nigeria during the time of Okada Airlines, once the self-styled "largest airline in Africa." Well, they had 16 clapped-out BAC 1-11s on their roster, and never mind how many were parked as wrecks here and there.

You learned pretty quickly to wait to give your DME distance if you had an Okada anywhere near. If I had said, "DME 18," Okada would give "DME 16" and get cleared Number One for the approach at Abuja. Strange thing then how this faster jet would arrive over the VOR three minutes behind my little Cessna, as if the crew had been lying or something. So one would just say, "Uh, stand by; I'm not picking it up," and wait for Okada to speak first from 10 miles back.

The amazing luck of Nigerians would come into play so that the crummy operating standards shown in this sort of way were usually just an annoyance. But then the fun stopped when it started raining airplanes and rather large numbers of people died.

Right here, right now you are having a bit of emphasis on fleet improvement and actually operating to proper standards. I agree that this must be a good opportunity for many young pilots to finally get the experience they deserve, rather than just being sat in the right seat of a Twin Otter waiting for an upgrade that somehow never came, since the minimums for command always seemed to be just a bit higher than whatever one had.

That said, I sure do remember some rather amazing local pilots, including at least one who must have come out of the NAF with a faked licence, since he really could hardly fly at all and certainly not to his stated level of ability. You sure do have the full range there.

I just get a bit impatient to see comments here that Arik is a good thing overall, when it is really just the old way of doing "business as usual." To go on a course, get a type-rating and some valuable experience, well, yes, go for it! But to think it represents an improvement in the notorious way Nigerians do business is just wishful thinking.

It is rather interesting to work up here in North Africa and mention Nigeria. No one really wants to know about it, like the lunatic auntie locked up in the attic of the west wing of the family mansion. My present company will not even consider bidding on a contract there; the guy in charge told me not to even bother him talking about it. They operate in such beauty spots as Angola and the Sudan but they don't want to know about Nigeria; there is the image of your country for you, I guess. When I mention how long I spent there they just give me THE LOOK.

[NaijaNinja]

Scary Chucky or Chukwuma, which one is it?

Look old sage, you've said some valid things before now but ....... Angola, Sudan.....

Please leave the lunatic Aunty alone and enjoy your cous cous!

If i put you up with my Angolan friends desperate to work in Lagos as recently as last sunday, you will think twice of your barbed comments, NaijaNinja doesn't want to be wound up by people who think they know it all about Naija!

If you continue, then you may not like the idea of cous cous for long!

[alghaita ganga]

There is no doubt that Chuks may have pick some poor compoarison as Angola rated equal 142/163 alongside Nigeria and Sudan rated equal 156. However, the “Corruption traps millions in poverty,” said Transparency International Chair Huguette Labelle. Transparency International also says the vast majority of the people are only victims of corruption. Corruption by a limited number of powerful individuals, and failure of leaders and institutions to control or prevent corruption, does not imply that a country or its people are most corrupt.
However, I will nevr fly an airline like Arik. They are stealing business from legitimate companies and are not recycling money back into the poorest part of economy. This is money which should have been spend on schools, water, hospitals.
Even a prominent Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark claims there are more than 103 cult group in Rivers State and that the leaders, financiers and the patrons of this cult groups are politicians both in government and outside government. He says that some of the financiers were cultists expelled from their universities in their days as students with some being indicted by the State Security Service (SSS) in November 2006. Now who are this politicians?
Here is what the World Economic Forum have to say about Nigeria's economy:

Geneva, Switzerland 27 September 2006 - Despite its tremendous oil wealth and competitive potential, Nigeria this year recorded a very steep fall in its competitiveness, ranking only 101st worldwide, down 18 places from last year in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) rankings for2006-07. Moreover, it lost 34 places (falling to rank 112) in the basic requirements sub-index, which highlights the fundamentals for achieving sustained growth, namely strong institutions, adequate infrastructure, a supportive macroeconomic
environment, and good basic health and education. By contrast, the country did better on innovation (52), improving its position vis-à-vis last year by 12 places by raising its rankings for company spending on R&D and university/industry research collaboration. Nigeria has also boosted its technological readiness, especially in the areas of FDI and technology transfer and firm-level technology absorption.
“To boost the country’s growth potential, Nigerian policy-makers must focus on getting the basic priorities right. While most other oil exporters saw their rankings soar for their macroeconomy, Nigeria slipped 35 places as it struggled to contain double-digit inflation and a widening of interest rate spreads, reflecting distortions in the financial system. There are also serious gaps in the quality of its institutions – especially public ones – as the country remains afflicted by perceived graft and security problems, as well as insufficient protection of property rights. As in other developing
countries, infrastructure has not received sufficient policy prioritization and school enrolment rates are very low by international standards. Finally, more needs to be done to reduce trade barriers, to increase competition, improve labour-employer relations and counter the loss of human capital through brain drain,” noted Augusto Lopez-Claros, Chief Economist and Head of the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Network.

[NaijaNinja]

alghaita ganga

Correct me if i am wrong but were you not the same guy few months ago who made a big deal about Oil company Audits and airlines in Nigeria?

Moving on.....

Can we please stop condemning people if we don't have a factual basis to do so. You seem to have joined the bandwagon of those who think Arik's money is dirty. Do you have proof of that? I don't want to hear what someone told you, i want your own proof otherwise, don't insinuate that Arumemi Johnson's money is ill-gotten.

Its just like me saying Dick Cheney should build toilets, kitchens and bathrooms in IRAQ using the money that Halliburton made from all the contracts the US government gave to Halliburton since they manufactured the war in Iraq.

Even though the Halliburton story checks out as its so obvious that they have a huge presence in Iraq, do you have anything other than hearsay to prove that Johnson's money is dubious? If you do, tell us, otherwise, stop acting all righteous!

[HavingSaidThat]

Ninja,

I understand that one should not claim that Johnson's money i dubious (your word) or whatever they are, without having proof. Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I can read, neither chuk nor alghaita ganga have done so. I would love to get an insight in where these billions of USD comes from, how they are routed before they end up on a Boeing or any other bank account. But in the end of the day it's none of my business. Having said that, it will, if the billions are dubious (your word again), be Johnson's, his Board of Director's and his Accountable Manager's
headache.

This quote you made in an answer to chuk:

If you continue, then you may not like the idea of cous cous for long!

What do you mean by that? It sound like a threat to me, but you are better to explain that.

Instead of trying to defend almost everything that's going on in Arik and Nigerian aviation, how about giving us your viewpoint on how brilliant it is to have all these Arik flying machines parked in Lagos. And if you don't mind, round it off with a couple of sentences on why it is difficult for Arik to get the number of pilots they obviously need to fly these machines.

chukc said something like: do not lose track of reality. Probably a good advice to both the Arik top floor and some of the posters on this thread.

And cous cous tastes good . Right chuk

[NaijaNinja]

HST

First things first, NaijaNinja doesn't do threats! So that wasn't a threat.

That line was meant to imply that if Chuks continues to act like a Naija expert/prophet of doom, the couscous he enjoys where he is now based will not taste that good for long because he will simply rile Nigerians to the point that unnecessary words will fly on this thread!

HST, I suggest you properly read the previous posts by those two you mentioned and you will pick up statements reflecting their belief/wealth-of-knowledge of the source of Arik's funds.

I am not going to join the debate about where the money comes from because i don't have a clue where they come from, what i find unsettling is people making comments without facts except hearsay. Someone played the Devil's advocate within the last 24 hours, saying if it is dodgy/dubious/ill-gotten money, they have laundered it well to a good cause. So this 'stolen money' from the People of Nigeria is being used to serve Nigerians, let's face it, with all Arik's expenses, profit making is a long way off the agenda! If the business packs up, just rebrand it Nigeria Airways or something and use FG funds to operate it like some African airlines run by National Governments.

Concerning the Pilots issue you made a quip about, someone on this thread claimed to have seen in the region of 45 Arik expats in Lagos 2/3 days ago. So maybe there are serious activities going on behind the scenes that we are not all privy to. One thing i do know is that those planes will not have an AOG status forever and i hope they will be operated by a Nigerian firm as opposed to anywhere else.

Finally, I am pleased you mentioned reality. Well, reality works hand-in-hand with facts and a lot of the sceptical comments about Arik are not factual, so think about it and accept reality as what you see, not people's hearsay. Reality is Arik is committed to buying some a/c, reality is we are not privy to their business plans nor the methodology/timeframe involved in these plans.

We should only appreciate what's happening and hope for better things and stop being negative y'all or those of you who derive pleasure in doing so!

[HavingSaidThat]

Ninja,

Concerning the Pilots issue you made a quip about, someone on this thread claimed to have seen in the region of 45 Arik expats in Lagos 2/3 days ago. So maybe there are serious activities going on behind the scenes that we are not all privy to. One thing i do know is that those planes will not have an AOG status forever and i hope they will be operated by a Nigerian firm as opposed to anywhere else.

I cannot say this for sure, but there are no 45 expat pilots in Arik. May be if you add expat managers and expat technical staff you will reach such a number, but I doubt it. These planes do not carry an AOG label. That is a technical term, and I would think you know that. These planes are on ground for the reason we have covered from every side by now, they are not capable of getting the pilots they need That is a fact. And if they do not get off the ground pretty soon, the income side in Johnson's books will have serious dark red figures. And one sunny morning you will see that some of these flying machines will be operated by other airlines. Reality Ninja, reality

Finally, I am pleased you mentioned reality. Well, reality works hand-in-hand with facts and a lot of the sceptical comments about Arik are not factual, so think about it and accept reality as what you see, not people's hearsay. Reality is Arik is committed to buying some a/c, reality is we are not privy to their business plans nor the methodology/timeframe involved in these plans.

Yes, I did mention reality. And I did it again, because fact is that they are ordering new planes like they are afraid the shop is going to be empty tomorrow, and expanding with new routes before they have pilots to fly the routes they started with. That is fact and reality. Committed to buying some a/c? Matter of definition, is it not. This is "a house build on sand", unfortunately for the employees Businessplan? It looks like part of it is to buy a bunch of aircraft and park them on the tarmac.

[chuks]

Oooh....

My points are pretty simple:

1. The image of Nigeria is so bad that places such as Angola and the Sudan are okay to operate in but Nigeria is a no-go area, at least for this one Swiss operator. That the reality might not be so bad, well, after so many years of mis-management, much of the rest of the world just doesn't want to know. Nigeria = fraud, corruption, violence, danger, etcetera. (I blame colonialism of course and slavery too for this state of affairs.)

2. As I stated, all I know about Arik is what I read in the papers.

Any properly-run airline has finances that are a matter of public record. This is part of the requirements for an AOC, is it not? Here we have one that is the usual Nigerian Black Hole. If you want to cover up that uncomfortable fact with bluster about how I know nothing about Arik's finances, be my guest since that was more or less my point! Too, if you need to point out that I do not know very much about Nigeria, that is really not going to hurt my feelings either. I always felt that I was far ahead of many of my fellow ex-pats by knowing, at least, how little I really knew about your country.

Very often in Nigeria I would hear one particular thing whenever some local had made a complete and utter fool of himself.

That was, "This is my country!" I used to get that, for instance, when I had to point out that my Twin Otter, on the right, had right-of-way over some locally-flown DC-9 on the left after the local crew had been screaming on the Tower frequency about me "cutting them off" by passing 200 metres in front on my way to Link 2 at DNMM. What, the DC-9 crew thought they were driving a Molue down Agege Motor Road? There the larger vehicle has right-of-way, of course but's that's not ICAO.

Here we can read something similar, I think, as a reply to some justified scepticism about whatever Arik is up to. Time will tell how this one plays out but I think the smart money is on big talk followed by sudden collapse followed by financial scandal followed by, uh... nothing much.

Don't spill your noodles down the front of your agbada there, Mr Ninja. Just chill out and wait to see if the Arik doubters have to eat their words. It wouldn't be the first time I have made a mistake.

[ZAZOO]

Easy on the Language now!

I think we have all made our points clear on this thread, so lets not overeact and start using words I feel are not befitting from the gentlemen we consider ourselves to be.

Please.

Zaz

[NaijaNinja]

HST, we all know tht AOG is a technical term, try to be flexible with your thoughts!

The 45 expats i mentioned was a quote from someone's sighting few days ago on this same thread!

Whether those machines work now or few months later, one thing is sure, those red figures are common to most airline startups, so that won't be a first!

Maybe you amongst other people don't realise that most of the Boeing orders that Arik have are at vastly reduced prices. They have taken advantage of a good deal because the options they have now were for a different operator who sold them onto Arik at reduced prices! Do some work on that and maybe you will see a smart business move there.

At least they are not like VK putting me in an old banger of a 767 making me watch a big screen from LGW to LOS and back to LGW. I am switching back to VS until W3 plies the British Isles.

The crew issue is something that won't be forever and i just detect people are making a big deal of it probably because they haven't made it into W3!

[NaijaNinja]

Hmmn, having read Chukwuma's thoughts and Zazoo's words of wisdom, i shall go with Zazoo and let the wrong people admit how wrong they have been in the future!

[alghaita ganga]

Aero Commence Flights to Libreville

Is interesting that Aero which seem to have a sound business strategy and bring in aircraft when it has researched routes and yields, has just opened a new route to Gabon. It seems the exact opposite of arik - slow and steady, but every aircraft working from the moment it arrives, which is probably why Aero is making profit and have a good name with passengers such as me. Today's Daily Trust says:

Aerocontractors Airline has increased its international routes to seven within a week, as it begins operations to Central African city of Libreville in Gabon on Saturday.

The Managing Director of the airline, Mr. Koen Neven said 'the need to fill a yawning gap in the transportation requirement in the Central African zone prompted the operation of flights to Libreville, Gabon.'


Mr. Neven who was represented at the inaugural flight by the Marketing Manager of the airline, Mr. Theodore Chikelu noted that 'Libreville is like a hub in the Central Africa where passengers can connect different parts of the world, especially West Africa.

'It is very important to us when we recognize that we have already been granted the approval by our government to operate to Congo-Kinshasa, Windhoek, and down to Luanda.

'Libreville therefore is like a concentration for passengers to move to West Africa, North Africa and even connect Europe and America from Lagos, Nigeria,' he stated.

According to him, 'we shall be operating two frequencies for now every Tuesday and Saturday, with a plan to increasing it as soon as possible.'

Also speaking at the inaugural flight, the General Sales Agent for Aero in Libreville, Mr. Amoua Adamu said 'many Nigerians in Gabon are glad with the coming of Aero to Libreville. It will afford them the opportunity of easily doing their business between Nigeria and Gabon and at the same time travelling home for visits.

'They all knew about the airline in while in Nigeria and are proud that one of the well recommended airlines from their country is now operating to Libreville,' he added.

Aero recently commenced operation to Monrovia, Liberia, adding to other international routes operated which include Accra, Ghana; Abidjan, Cote D' Voire; Bamako, Mali; Malabo, Equatorial Guinea; and Sao Tome.

I wonder if they have thoughts of starting intercontinental flights? Is good they know that it is best to walk before running.

It will be interesting to an outside observer like me to also see if this story from BBC will have any outcomes with any local business:

The Nigerian president has ordered an investigation into alleged links between government officials in the Niger Delta and violent criminal gangs.
Rivers State officials - including the Deputy Governor - are accused of being secretly in control of the gangs. Turf wars between rival gangs in the state capital, Port Harcourt, last month left around 40 people dead. The city has been under night curfew since 17 August and last week the army sent in troops and helicopter gunships.

Leaders of the Delta's ethnic Ijaw residents met President Yar'Adua to spell out their complaints about the links between the gangs, or "cults", and named senior politicians. The president asked them to fully document their allegations and promised that corrupt officials would be brought to justice.

On his election in April, President Yar'Adua promised to tackle escalating crime in the Delta. The army operation launched last week is seen as part of a new policy to crush the region's powerful armed gangs and impose law and order.

Yar'Adua was elected on a pledge to bring corrupt officials to justice but civil rights activists say it is an open secret that politicians and gangs have had a long, close relationship, with politicians paying the criminals to rig elections and intimidate opponents. They say if the government is serious about destroying the gangs, it will also have to go after their political sponsors - and that could prove an embarassment to the ruling party.

Reality is what reality turns out to be. The truth does not always come out, but the next few years is going to be intersting to see which companies will still be there in Nigeria. I have my money with Bellview, VN and Aero staying the course, but have often lost money on bets in the past .