Arik Air: My Tale of Two Bottles of Water.

Excited to be going to spend some time in Lagos for the holiday, with my 8-year-old son, we headed to the airport on August 19 to catch our Arik Air flight. Arriving at the airport well ahead of our departure time, the initial excitement began to wane as we found ourselves in a departure hall with malfunctioning air conditioning – quite the uncomfortable start.

As we waited eagerly but patiently at the departure gate, we noticed distressed passengers arriving from a different gate. Curiosity got the best of me, and I inquired about the situation. Sadly, their flight encountered technical issues on the runway, leading to disembarkation. Inwardly, I hoped that Arik Air would keep us on track.

At 7:03 pm, an announcement reverberated through the hall, indicating a 30-minute delay for our 7:05 pm flight. Not too bad, I thought, considering the flight was initially scheduled for 7.45 pm on purchase before a mail was sent with a new time of 7:05 pm due to operational issues. My inquisitive son embarked on a countdown, curiously asking questions about the delay, while the minutes trickled by.

However, at 7:45 pm, a second announcement cast a shadow of concern. Passengers were summoned to the counter for an update, a sign that something unpleasant was up. An Arik staff member delivered the blow – an additional delay of one hour and 45 minutes. The cause? The plane had been unable to land in Abuja due to bad weather. He said: " The plane was already in Abuja but couldn't land due to bad weather so it had to go to Lagos and it will refuel before coming back to Abuja to take you to Lagos."

The room echoed with dismayed exclamations, and rightfully so. An elderly gentleman voiced the shared sentiment: "So what's next, we just sit here and wait, without giving us anything to eat?"

Passengers went back to their seats while discussing the latest development, some made calls to loved ones, and the elderly man I mentioned earlier threatened to sue Arik. The staff members of Arik were elusive, nobody gave us anything to eat or drink, and some people had to go to the overpriced restaurant to grab a bite and drink.

At 9.28 pm, a staff member of Arik walked in and announced " The estimated time of arrival for the delayed aircraft is now 10:15 pm." He also announced that they had water for us. " My son's candid remark about receiving only water after such a lengthy wait caught the attention of fellow passengers. He said quite audibly "After keeping us here for this long it's only water you can give us. " This drew nods of agreement from some passengers who looked at him in amazement. One of them said, "This little boy don vex."

I encouraged him to go tell the Arik staff member exactly what he had just said to his face and other passengers urged him on. An elderly man accompanied him to the counter while I looked on. The staff member of Arik was just smiling, I guess he was more amused than apologetic (my son said he didn't apologise) and handed him two bottles of water, one for him and myself.

A noticeable blend of anger, hunger, fatigue, and restless children and adults filled the atmosphere as the night wore on. I and other passengers talked about how disappointing it was that Arik could only provide a 33cl bottle of water for each passenger. We talked about how this could never happen in other countries except Nigeria because we have adapted to tolerating poor customer care services and bad leadership generally.

At this point, my son and I had a conversation and one of the things he said was "Mummy the Minister of Aviation has to do something about all this."(He is abreast with current affairs) and I replied, "Well, that's up to Festus Keyamo."

At 10.25 pm anxious passengers kept looking out the window to see if the flight had arrived, some said it had, and others said it was another airline. At 10.30 pm the staff members of Arik arrived at the counter while we eagerly waited for them to say something. At 10.40 pm, we were called to board. We eventually took off at about 11:20 pm, four hours and 30 minutes past the original departure time.

To our greatest surprise, we were only given another bottle of 33cl of water on the flight, no snack pack. The flight was smooth thank God, we touched down in Lagos around 12:30 am. With voices muted, passengers disembarked, obviously just satisfied to have landed in Lagos safely.

What would it have cost Arik Air to provide a little snack for its passengers who they delayed for 4 hours and 30 minutes after paying good money for their tickets which were inclusive of a meal as written on the electronic ticket? The irony is that in our airports you see electronic boards displaying: "If you experience any flight delay, you have a right to a meal." In developed countries, if you are delayed for over two hours at the airport the airline gives each passenger a meal ticket.

The entire ordeal left me pondering the discrepancy between the stipulated regulations and the reality of customer care in Nigeria's aviation sector. Regulations set clear expectations for airlines to provide refreshments and meals in case of delays exceeding certain thresholds. Yet, our experience painted a stark contrast.

Part 19.6 of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Regulations (Nig. CAR) 2015 as amended, states for domestic flights, when an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure, it shall provide the passengers with reason(s) for the delay within 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time and the assistance specified below :

(i) after two hours, refreshments as specified in section 19.10.1

Section 19.10.1 states Where reference to care is made in this section, passengers shall be offered free of charge :

(i) refreshments such as water, soft drinks, confectioneries/snacks;

(ii) a meal ;

I don't know if passengers are aware of these regulations or decide not to take action against the airlines that fail to comply.

This is the sad tale of Nigeria. We have become so resilient and adaptable that we have forgotten our rights as citizens and when we remember and are denied, we do nothing about it or we just make empty threats and move on. We must shatter the mold of complacency, moving beyond empty threats and embracing action.

If we want a better Nigeria we must hold people, establishments, organisations, and the Government accountable. People must be punished for wrong behaviour, bad customer service should not be rewarded with more patronage but a boycott. As we navigate our journey toward a New Nigeria, let us remember that progress begins with the insistence on our rights and the courage to challenge the status quo.

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