Arik Air Flight W3107 was a nightmare for the dozens of
travelers who boarded that flight back on March 31st 2014. It was late,
and adding insult to injury, it was also a flight noted for a lack of
air conditioning.
Arik
Air officials, who had earlier claimed on twitter that the videos were
doctored, issued a statement saying, essentially, they are sorry.
To
all guest who traveled on flight W3107 (from Lagos, Nigeria to JFK, New
York) on 31st March 2014, the statement reads: " Arik Air offers an
unconditional apology, for the inconvenience and discomfort caused by
both the 55 minute delayed flight departure, and the failure of the
airplane’s air-conditioning system prior to said departure.
“In
this regard, the experienced schedule delay was a result of
complications related to the cargo loading process as managed by Arik
Air’s contracted ground-handling agent,” the public statement goes on to
add.
“Unfortunately, whilst efforts were rightly being expended
to overcome the cargo loading difficulties, the backup air conditioning
unit (which should have been provided by our ground handling agent,) was
declared unserviceable and thus unavailable for use. Upon resolution of
the cargo loading difficulties, the air-conditioning system was finally
restored as the aircraft prepared for immediate departure under its own
engine power.”
While the explanation as to what occurred on that
jet plane is clear as it stood grounded on the airport tarmac, for many
on board, the story paints only part of the picture for the
inconvenienced passengers sweating away on a flight delayed for over an
hour.
There remain several questions that come into play. For
example, in using the air line’s own words from the statement, many on
aboard continue to ask regarding the air conditioning is how, on the one
hand it “was declared unserviceable and thus unavailable for use.”
While on the other hand, so said the airline company statement, that the
“air-conditioning system was finally restored as the aircraft prepared
for immediate departure under its own engine power.”
The question
on the matter of the aircraft’s air conditioning system is a matter of
timing. In the video first provided to SaharaTV by a notable US -based
pro-democracy activist and leader of Nigeria Democratic Liberty Forum
(NDLF), ukola Oreofe as the aircraft sat on the tarmac, dozens of
clearly uncomfortable passengers are seen fanning themselves in an
attempt to cool off. When was it determined, and by whom, that the
air-cooling system was “finally restored?”
“Arik Air, and its
management, acknowledges that the handling of the situation on board was
less than satisfactory and falls well short of the "high standards of
service" that its esteemed traveling guest have come to expect of us
(and which we demand of ourselves,”) airline spokesmen shared in the
statement. “Arik Air’s Management wishes to assure our esteemed guests
that the necessary remedial measures have been initiated to prevent the
repetition of such an incident to the extent possible/controllable.”
“Arik
Air is committed to providing a safe and comfortable air transport
service to every guest and on every journey. Arik Air wishes to thank
all guests who endured this inconvenience patiently, despite both the
trying circumstance, and the unfortunate exhibition of aggression, to
both people and property, by a minority of unruly passengers onboard the
aircraft,” the statement continued.
“Arik Air values, greatly,
its relationship with her guest. Hence, to all the affected guests,
please note that we intend to pursue the restoration of the trust and
faith vested in us by your good-selves. In this respect, Arik Air shall
be contacting each affected guest on flight W3107 31st March 2014, to
express these sentiments (and seek such restitution of trust)
individually.
“Once again, please accept our humble and sincere
apologies,” the statement read in closing. “You and your patronage are
dear to us. We exist to serve you and we look forward to doing so again
in the near future.”
The Arik Airlines statement is unusual
because of its length, and detail to what is clearly an embarrassing and
highly publicized episode for the air carrier. The company statement
was certainly fostered by the two videos posted on the Sahara TV You
Tube web page, and by the high volume of ‘hits,’ and the word-of-mouth
re-telling of a particularly awful flight. Bad publicity that has
reached the ‘viral’ stage on the Internet, is clearly not in the
interest of any company.
Yet, in the days since the late March
episode numerous passengers aboard that flight did contact
SaharaReporters to address what they call ‘a total disregard’ of the
passengers on board. For those who contacted us, the airline statement
brings more questions to the episode than answers. Why, for example,
with a flight already delayed, would company management and officials
proceed with an aircraft clearly not ready for an eight hour
Trans-Atlantic journey?
“The unfortunate exhibition of aggression,
to both people and property, by a minority of unruly passengers onboard
the aircraft,” some will argue, was caused in large part by the
perceived staff ‘disregard’ captured by video cameras, and viewed by
tens of thousands of would-be customers, and visitors, to Nigeria.
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