Poor on-time performance has been described as one of the major reasons leading to the collapse of Nigerian airlines after short period of operation.
Experts who spoke on the development said this major clause is why it has remained difficult for Nigerian carriers to compete effectively with their counterparts on the international routes.
The experts, who premised this flaw to why foreign airlines have been reluctant to have code-share arrangement with Nigerian operators, cited how flight delays create air of uncertainty for the passengers who, having paid for flights, mostly become uncertain about if or when the flight will take off as it may even be cancelled at some points.
Speaking on the development, travel expert and organiser of Akwaaba African Travel Market, Ambassador Ikechi Uko, described poor on-time performance as one of the drawbacks of Nigerian airlines as it does not make them competitive in an environment where other airlines are operating like the West Coast, international destinations, noting that consistent flight delay has affected the image of Nigerian operators.
Uko insisted that not keeping to schedule has made Nigerian airlines lose their premium passengers and also made it difficult for Nigeria to attract business class passengers on international destinations.
Uko explained that on-time performance is key to success for airlines but noted that it has not been working well in Nigeria because of internal peculiarities. It stems from the culture, “where people do not take keeping to time seriously. One is even tempted to believe it is a Nigerian thing because whenever there is group trip involving Nigerians and others, it is the Nigerians that do not turn up as scheduled.”
“If you say that such delays among Nigerian airlines occur because of operational environment you can deflate that argument with the fact that African World Airline (AWA) comes to Nigeria, keeping to its schedule but Nigerian carriers will go to Ghana and fail to keep to their schedule. So, why it is that our own is not as smooth as theirs? I think it is a cultural thing and it is not good for our airlines.”
The Managing Director of Flight and Logistics Solutions Limited, Amos Akpan, attributed 60 percent of the factors that cause poor on-time performance for domestic operations to what he described as factors outside the management’s control, saying that 40 percent is within the control of the airline which he said the airlines must take advantage of.
He said, “Some factors beyond the operators’ management include limitations of airports to daylight operations, weather minimal limitations, impromptu lack of fuel, delays due to VIP movements, delayed approach to entry/exit in airports due to one runway at busy periods or due to incident on runway and labour unrest.
“Some factors within the management’s control include logistics/coordination of the schedule planning matrix which involves maintenance, flight operations and passenger services, turn-around time at stations and for line maintenance. This requires personnel with experience that think proactively but act within the safety envelope.”
He however, tasked the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the Nigeria Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), fuel suppliers, labour unions on the need to realise how sensitive on-time performance is for the industry.
The Chief Executive Officer of Mainstream Cargo Limited, Mr Seyi Adewale, in his reaction, said that poor on-time performance has real present and future challenges or problems for airlines, stating that this affects the brand equity of these airlines as well as negatively impact on their desired passenger loyalty.
“Significantly, the airline revenues are greatly impacted whereby the affected airline would be unable to meet its revenue targets apart from ‘grave’ customer dissatisfaction or the consequent burning of more aviation fuel whilst trying to make up for lost time caused by the delay.
“Similarly, too, the ground support operations are disrupted and make many ground support companies appear inefficient sometimes, causing tarmac, apron airside incidents or accidents whilst rushing to meet up clashing flight or staff work-plan schedules,” he said.
Adewale observed that the future impact on the airlines in general is that passengers will seek out alternatives wherever feasible during flight delays thereby reducing airline/aviation viability in the long run.
He said, “To compound issues, refunds are mostly difficult to get with some airlines, executing up to 40 days refund policy. Imagine the stress on the passenger who may need to procure another flight due to the urgency needed at the destination.
“This is a very serious and very negative impact on Nigerian aviation sector and the inherent value-chain. There must be strong oversight functions and associate penalties in order to assist the airlines save themselves in the overall interest and sustainability of the aviation sector.”
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