By Dennis Nwachukwu
My job as an executive assistant to a public figure and technocrat involves me performing quite a number of roles.
One critical aspect of my job assignment is managing the schedule of my boss. And as anyone would know, managing the schedule of a highly itinerant business executive who metamorphosed into a politician can move from normal to crazy within a split second. The planned itinerary can change just at the dying minute. I remember this time after booking an airticket with two airlines I still had to reschedule both.
Rescheduling a flight at the dying minute is usually a nightmare for anyone who has my job, that is because rescheduling a flight at the last minute comes with a lot of uncertainties. The first uncertainty you have to deal with is contacting the customer care of the particular airline you would want to reschedule your flight. If you have any experience with most Nigerian airlines you would know that you have to make two prayers : let their contact information go through, if it’s phone number let it ring as most airlines have their phone numbers switched off, if it’s email address let the message deliver ; the next prayer if the first is answered is for the customer care agent to pickup your call, you can spend hours calling and no one would pick up, if your mail went successfully you pray for a feedback.
Well if you have the luxury of time visiting the airline office would prove a way faster strategy but this does not help when you have to reschedule a flight at 8pm in the evening or even 10pm at night this is where the second uncertainty becomes an issue. A few airlines whose customer care numbers are functional do not operate after 5pm.
In context this is what makes United Nigeria Airlines my airline of choice as one who frequently has to make airline bookings. The customer care service of the airline is not only accessible but more importantly they are responsive to requests from clients even beyond official hours. In comparison to other airlines in Nigeria I’d rate the customer care unit of united Nigeria airlines higher.
Typically it takes anywhere between 10 to 15mins for one to get feedback on any mail sent and approximately 30mins in total to have your issue resolved. Their customer care numbers are also available for customers who would like this option. Customer care representatives respond to calls in record time although I prefer to use their email options as it is much faster and efficient for me.
While united Nigeria airlines may have other areas of service to improve on. I think it would be encouraging to mention an area where they are meeting expectations and not just criticism no matter how constructive it is. Running an airline business even in a climate economy is tough talk less more of running a successful airline in a turbulent economy like Nigeria. As United Nigeria Airlines continues to grow its operations in Nigeria starting with four embrarer ERJ-145LR JETS flying to four destinations in 2021, it now boast of an Airbus A320-200 in its fleet flying to over 11 destinations nation wide. We must continue to encourage and support our local airlines until they become major players like Ethiopian airways or Kenyan airways. We can do this not only by telling them what they are doing wrong but also what they are doing right. Like the saying goes if you want to lift yourself up lift someone else. If we as Nigerians want our aviation industry to grow we must lift our local airlines.
Dennis Nwachukwu is Executive Assistant to Sam Ohuabunwa and based in Abuja.
