Opinion: 12 hours of torture, boredom, frustration inside Arik Air

Arik Chairman, Arumemi Johnson

By AZUH AMATUS: Sincerely, I feel like suing the management of Arik Air, led by Sir Arumemi Johnson - Ikhide and his son, Michael, for the unprofessional way they are running the controversial airline, especially services on their international routes.

In my many years of flying, I recently experienced what would go down in history as my worst international flight with Arik Air.

This nightmarish experience occurred during my recent trip to Johannesburg, South Africa to cover the opening ceremony of Big Brother Africa Hotshots, unarguably the biggest reality contest on the continent.

I left Nigeria for South Africa in the night of October 2, aboard an Arik plane with flight number W3 103 Y, thinking I would have a swell time like I normally do with other airlines whenever I’m visiting Nelson Mandela’s country.

Being my first international flight with Arik, I thought the experience would be fun and memorable based on their many promises.

But to my consternation, it turned out my worst traveling experience with an airline on the international route in my over a decade romance with foreign airline operators.

After boarding and take off, sleep was not forthcoming, so I decided to relax with Arik’s in-flight entertainment while the six hour journey lasted, thus began my agony and torture inside the very scantily filled plane.

I tried severally to use the in-flight entertainment to watch either movies or even listen to musicals, all to no avail. After several attempts, I decided to complain to a not too friendly female crew member. And her response was dry and devoid of any iota of emotions. “Sorry. Our in flight entertainment is not working,” she said in a voice bereft of friendliness and the usual excitement air hostesses are noted for globally, while brushing past my seat number 16F.

Her response left me stunned with mouth agape.

Then several questions, which answers I’m yet to find kept flooding my angry mind, for the greater part of the tortuous and frustrating flight to Johannesburg.

First, why would a certified international flight not have an in-flight entertainment to help travelers on a long distance journey relax their frayed nerves?

Are NCAA and FAAN, aware of the fact that this flight set aside for long distance foreign trips, is best suitable for only local flights, because it does not have what it takes to compete on the global air space?

In all my years of patronizing foreign airlines to South Africa and other parts of the world, I’ve never flown any airline without in-flight entertainment and abysmally poor services, like this cursed Arik Air.

At least, I’ve flown serious airlines such as: British Airways, KLM, Lufthansa, South African Airways, Turkish Airways and several others to different parts of the world and can still relish with fond memories how they all pampered me like a king on each of these trips.

Why is our own Arik, the self acclaimed Wings of Nigeria, totally different and useless in terms of delivering quality services?

Why must incompetence and poor service delivery be Arik’s hallmarks?

Little wonder, our flight was almost empty and occupied by angry and frustrated passengers like me who kept cursing and lamenting until we landed in SA.

Aside the absence of in-flight entertainment, I also noticed that Arik’s Air cabin crew members were very stingy with their victuals on our way to SA.

In the other airlines I’ve patronized, victuals, especially assorted wines were usually served excess in small bottles. But with Arumemi’s Arik, the case was completely different and annoyingly belittling. When I ordered for a small bottle of wine to help cushion the effect of the non availability of in-flight entertainment, the unfriendly female cabin crew member, grudgingly brought me a half filled glass of wine like a kindergarten student on a forced excursion. When I protested, she emphatically made it clear that was the only thing available on board. Can you imagine such injustice on an innocent passenger, whose only crime was choosing to fly his country’s airline to a foreign land as a patriotic citizen?

When I later called for a refill, it took this same hostess more than 30 minutes to respond with another half glass, even though our flight had scanty and countable passengers.

I later said to myself that the above sad episodes and many more were the reasons passengers going to SA avoid Arik like a plague.

I was at the airport and saw how filled and busy the South African Airways desk was prior to our trip, unlike their Arik’s counterpart.

Painfully, on our way back to Nigeria in the morning of October 6, aboard another Arik Air with flight number W3 104 Y, the sad story did not change.

This time, the captain apologetically announced to us that the six hour journey to Nigeria would be without in-flight entertainment. He implored us to bear with them for the inconveniences. This to me is Arik’s new motto and ‘style of operation’.

That was when it dawned on me that Arik Air was deliberately out to exploit, discomfort and maltreat its passengers traveling to South Africa on a daily basis. And this keeps happening because the passengers don’t complain or ever deem it fit to report to the appropriate authorities.

As usual, it was another scanty passengers’ trip back home. In fact, this time, the passengers were fewer.

One of the angry and disappointed passengers painfully told me that Arik’s in-flight entertainment had never worked since they started patronizing the airline at the inception of their SA route.

The only form of in-flight entertainment we had on our way back were stale copies of Nigerian newspapers that the cabin crew members gave us amid jokes that we should entertain ourselves with stale news from Nigerian dailies.

The big question is, what would it cost Arik to align with global best practices by activating their in-flight entertainment for the good of their business and daily decreasing passengers? It is obvious that they are hugely losing passengers on a daily basis due to deliberate poor services, inefficiency and sheer greed to cut corners.

Most of the passengers on that Arik’s flight of frustration with me vowed never to go near the airline again, when planning future foreign trips. Even Yours Faithfully, will never touch the airline with a long spoon when next I’m planning a foreign trip.

What those who are bent on ruining and running Arik’s international flights aground do not know is that when you break your word, you also break something that cannot be mended.

Arik failed woefully in their promise of giving me and the rest of the unhappy passengers a fun filled and memorable trip to South Africa.

And like a philosopher once said: “Promises are like crying babies in the church, they should be carried out immediately.”

The management of Arik should stop punishing and embarrassing with us poor services on a daily basis.

They should immediately quit foreign routes and concentrate only on national routes if they are not ready to up their game by raising their ‘short’ bar in the aviation sector.

It is tragic and fraudulent when you pay for a service that is poorly or badly rendered. It hurts more when the apex regulatory authority is doing nothing to protect you and refusing to punish the erring organization.

Arik, please end this flight of torture, boredom and frustration because we can no longer take this punishment and insult on your international routes.

Azuh Amatus is a journalist, blogger, newspaper editor and member, Nigerian Guild of Editors, he wrote in from Okota, Lagos via azuhamtus@yahoo.com