It’s Friday, let’s have a small conversation about Nigerian airlines.
Not a fight, not a dragging session, just a soft, sit back and look at ourselves kind of conversation.
Dear airlines, we need to talk. You have done many things right, connected cities, created jobs, made businesses, business travel possible, and on some days, given us that beautiful aircraft window view but there are a few things airlines sometimes overlook or perhaps they see them very clearly and simply decide to practice the Nigerian corporate tradition of, “Let us manage it first.”
Take communication, for instance, sometimes a flight is delayed for two hours and passengers are left at the airport without any explanation.
Nobody is saying an airline should control weather, technical issue, or air traffic restrictions. We understand but tell us, even if the news is bad. Then there is the small matter of customer service, some airlines have wonderful, wonderfully polite staff, others occasionally make you feel like you personally caused the aircraft to develop a technical fault.
You ask a simple question, “Please, what time are we boarding?” The response you get sometimes has the energy of, “If I knew, shey I go dey look you?”
Airlines, please help us with clear announcements, better boarding coordination, simple instructions, less confusion and please, let us not forget baggage.
Passenger experience matters. People remember how an airline made them feel. The truth is, aviation is not only about aircraft, schedules, and destinations. It is also about people. While the aircraft may be flying at 35,000 feet, the relationship with the passenger is built firmly on the ground.
So dear airlines, as we enter the weekend, this is not a lecture. It is just our Friday reminder that sometimes the things passengers complain about are not unreasonable demands but little things.
Occasionally, please look at your passenger experience from the passenger’s side of the counter because sometimes the biggest improvement an airline can may simply require someone saying, “If I were the passenger, how would this feel?”
Now over to you. What is that one thing Nigerian airlines routinely overlook but passengers desperately wish they could fix?
And please, let’s be honest , thank God it’s Friday.
