I just got an email from an Arik Air pilot who wants to remain anonymous. Below is his side of the story about the incident that happened at Abuja airport yesterday. His version below...
Yesterday in Abuja, arik air was to operate a scheduled flight from Abuja to Sokoto at 8am. But the flight was canceled. Passengers got angry and anxious to know when they'll leave Abuja.
Then a bombardier Q400 aircraft was provided to fly them to Sokoto by 1pm.
As they boarded, the pilot announced the plane had a snag so he
disembarked the Sokoto passengers. Angry passengers got haywire on the
ramp where aircraft were parked and hijacked 3 Arik aircraft from taking
off. I was to fly to Benin from Abuja 3pm flight. Angry Passengers sat on the foot of the Aircraft blocking Benin passenger from boarding
Pilots got angry and called it hijacked in an international airport. Another sister aircraft tried to start its engines, and after starting, angry Sokoto passengers stood in front of the aircraft which had started its
engines and was about taxiing for take off. We were delayed for
over 2hrs. I finally departed benin 5.15pm instead of 3pm. See pic in attachments.
Pilot; First Officer
Arik Air
One sided story.lindaobserve
ReplyDeleteDon't sensationalize it and play victims. It's bad PR for your company at the end of the day. That is NOT a hijack. You collected their money and refused to fly them, then expect them to be looking at you like mumu right? Nigerians are wiser now.
DeleteArik's services have been terrible these days. Go back and solve your company's problems.
Did u say refuse to fly them? Wch is better? Delaying cos of a problem or endangering d passengers lives?
DeleteHnmn
DeleteHow can no one respond to the pilots call? Not even airport security,Or the NIGERIAN police force. That's extremely worrisome. Wtf?
DeleteArik is the worst airline in Nigeria. The callous way they treat passengers is unprecedented. Their frequency in flight delaying and cancellation is frustrating to say the least.
DeleteThe passengers' manner of approach in this instance might be wrong but Arik had it coming.
Having suffered their poor service uncountable times, I made up my mind since 2013. I will never fly Arik even if the destination is heaven!
Hahahahaha. Arik can sure delay someone..they once frustrated my broda that he almost wept
DeleteAny tym ur flying wt Arik cancel all ur proposed schedules because dy r soo bad @ kipn to tym.
DeleteVisit. lollyznig.blogspot.com
bosslady,
DeleteOh yea, I'm 100% in support of the passengers. Go and read the first story by Linda. The passengers said no one came to address them so as to calm their nerves, not to talk of making alternative arrangements for a different aircraft. Meanwhile the passengers were seeing aircrafts being ready-ied for other destinations. How would you feel in such situation?
And this letter-writing pilot is so unprofessional and has a hint of ethnic bigotry in him by calling them "Sokoto Passengers" just to conjure up a violent disposition by these aggrieved customers. If they were coming to Lagos, he would have written Lagos-bound passengers. He is not the spokesperson of the airline and has no business writing an anonymous letter which could as well be filled with lies since there's no way to verify its contents. If there was a genuine concern for their safety, there are govt. agencies to formally report such issues to, not on the pages of online blogs. A properly-run organization would sanction the so-called pilot.
From your story, everyone can now trace the person that sent you this mail, so much for protecting his anonymity, the last paragraph gave it away.
Deleteits serious now oh
ReplyDeleteOne sided story.lindaobserve
ReplyDeleteMR EDDY said this heat wan kill person o.
ReplyDeleteNawa o
^
^
^™THAT EDO BOY.COM~
am ejoying this now.. truth will be out
ReplyDeleteOver to arik to hear there side of the story
DeleteMeanwhile email me to know how to enlarge your joystick and stop premature ejac n let your woman respect you
Hummm some people just gat no chill pill
ReplyDeleteHummm some people just gat no chill pill
ReplyDeleteWow! What a risky thing to do.....
ReplyDelete...and where were the securities in all these ?? smh
ReplyDeleteWow! What a risky thing to do.....
ReplyDeleteAnd yet we wonder why we northerners are labelled terrorists? Anger management is zero.it starts like this.Shame!
ReplyDeleteYou are right. Aboki are generally under regarded. Maybe it's because of their simplicity. But when a simple man is over pushed, he is forced to react.
DeleteLinda, when are u calling or mailing the Recipient of the I'd rather be self made? Keep up the good work
ReplyDeleteSo bad dat we hav tins lik dis happening in modern day. Hope dis wil b resolved asap.
ReplyDeletetheir management is weak & timid
ReplyDelete#Commenting thru Glo 4G LTE
Which of d stories re we going to take now.......its all good it didnt escalate more dan dis
ReplyDeleteMoye says so via BB Passport...Courtesy LIB....
An its only in naija u can see dis kin drama
ReplyDeleteAwusa bu Awusa sha
ReplyDelete#DavidKing
Na wao 4 my thr country o...
ReplyDeletethe pilot's recount of the event doesn't add any new information to what we already know
ReplyDeleteOk oo. Pple are angry everywhere
ReplyDeletePamscrib.blogspot.com
Gud for u guys,let d revolution stated
ReplyDeleteNaija na wa. I don't support what the passengers did but arik airline can sometimes be really annoying. Linda take note!
ReplyDeleteNaija na wa. I don't support what the passengers did but arik airline can sometimes be really annoying. Linda take note!
ReplyDeleteNaija na wa. I don't support what the passengers did but arik airline can sometimes be really annoying. Linda take note!
ReplyDeleteNaija na wa. I don't support what the passengers did but arik airline can sometimes be really annoying. Linda take note!
ReplyDeleteAre we taking of planes(eroplanes in my granny's voice) or keke ?
ReplyDeleteSo airport securities to put things in order ?
Ndi-ara , if is UWA now going back to base with Nigeria food stuff, they'll want to get doctors to do open heart surgery on the crayfish and dryfish i've with me .
The pilot is right, if they really blocked the entrance for other planes and passengers , they is hijack or hostage which is equally a crime .
Anyway,that's Nigeria for you where everything goes !
Chei!, UWA nwa mama , go easy nne with the grammar biko .
Deletesometimes when I go through my comments ,I just cry for beating the shit out of English Lang !
Forgive my mistakes , my amebo antenna is the cause o !
Documenting my patients progress and rushing to contribute my own amebo is not easy biko . So don't let my rush rush English give you headaches .
lol..only in Nigeria, so because their flight was delayed, they stopped other flights from leaving.
ReplyDeleteAnd the airport securities!
ReplyDeleteHausas are extremists and always ready 2 fight and kill, they are so backward except d very rich ones..
ReplyDeleteNa akamu den take make ur brains?! Ode, Olori buruku!
DeleteLOL... My name is Cedar Chinwuba and this claim by Arik Pilot is not true. I was there.. Let me ask them, which of the Senior officers came to address the incident?
ReplyDeleteLol...don't mind the useless arik and their weak and wicked management
DeleteThank you Cedar. I read your account of the incident on the other topic.
DeleteThat pilot is so unprofessional and has no business writing anonymous letters about. Arik is a terrible airline and they think they can use LIB to polish their image when they could have spent less energy to diffuse the situation at the right time.
Naija! Pls visit rellaidiovo.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteFirst plane, second one had a "snag", you comot for here dey talk am?! If to say I dey there I for break person head!
ReplyDeleteAll this flight cancelation is so annoying...no blame jare
ReplyDeleteAll this flight cancelation is so annoying...no blame jare
ReplyDeleteSeriously this man really tried...I can't dare!!
ReplyDelete:::::::::::::::::::QUEENMAYA::::::::::::::::::::
When I first red hijacked, i thought BH took over the plan....Nonsense like this happen only in Nigeria.
ReplyDeleteI don't blame this passengers Arik never deal with you b4. Very weak airline
ReplyDeleteThe Lord is our keeper
ReplyDelete... whatever it was... every1 is safe
Mehn dz is really serious ; the man get mind sha ..
ReplyDelete#LindaTakeNote
Arik is notorious with flight cancellation with no courtesy to passengers. I have been a victim for more than 5 times, 2 local Flights and 3 International Flights. On one of the International Flights, Dubai to Lagos after much shouting at ourselves at Dubai International Airport, they managed to put us in a hotel for 2 Nights 2 to 3 passengers in a room, business appointments were missed backed home. Their Vice President Dubai Operations Hassan Bukar personally wrote me an apology letter and I came back patronizing them. But to my surprise on another trip to Dubai from Lagos, I got to airport to board and I was told the flight is cancelled no information whatsoever and it was 10pm flight, no hotel arrangement at all. The Duty Manager Sadiq pleaded with me to come back next day evening that they must surely fly but I should call him in the morning to know whether they will still fly, when I called he simply said "Sorry we can't fly today again" and I had an important meeting to attend, I quickly bought Qater Airways Ticket and zoomed off but till today I am yet to get my refund. My London route experience is so nasty that I can't write it here. But thank God they stopped London flight. In all their International Flights, their On-board electronic Entertainments does not work, they gives so many excuses. They are so terrible that they deserve whatever passengers do to them. Their Local flights cancellation and delays now has become more like a frequent nightmare.
ReplyDeleteArik were only getting what they deserve.. I was the airport yesterday from 8.30 am till about till 3pm and this was a 10.50am flight...They ought to be fined, you cant treat clients in that manner and expect them to be happy1
ReplyDeleteDelaying other planes from flying is stupidy and is a crime,, all this can only happen in nigeria..Everybody want change and nobody want to change..
DeleteUnnecessary sensationalism. Passengers staged a protest and you are claiming it was a hijack. puhleese.
ReplyDeleteDon't mind the yeye airline/pilot. What about Linda that published the anonymous letter? How can you make such serious allegations that can't be traced back to you? Who does that?
DeleteArik is a useless airline ! I had an 11.10am flighty yesterday from owerri to Abuja but that was delayed because they picked owerri and ph customers together. We boarded the flight but they took us to ph to drop passengers and pick ph passengers heading to Abuja as well. After many hours we got to Abuja then to get our luggage was wahala, we eventually had to go out ourselves to get it from the tractor. Arik is running a molue shuttle service. I would make sure me or no one I know flies arik again. There are other better airlines like air peace. Enough is enough!
ReplyDeleteARIK AIR, WORST AIRLINE ON EARTH!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteWhy do people still fly Arik? Do they have exclusive routes? Or is it a case of Stockholm syndromme?
ReplyDeleteI thought he requested anonymity yet he's releasing his take of time nd d flight destination...I'm sure dey hv a log to check...well just saying...so much for anonymity lol
ReplyDeleteArik Air fares are so expensive, yet they treat passengers anyhow.
ReplyDeleteArik is notorious for tendentiously ly treating passengers like shit.
ReplyDeletePilot wants anonymity but gas exposed himself with his rank (first officer) and route (Benin). He even added the flight time, both scheduled and actual, for good measure. Anonymous indeed. Either this is PR by Arik or stupidity on the part of the pilot.
ReplyDeleteWow
ReplyDeleteAm one of the pessengers that was to travel to Sokoto. What actually happened was that; We were checked inn 10:15am to depart by 11:15am, just before the departing time announcement came from the public address system that the flight is rescheduled for 1:00pm due to operational reasons, @ 1:15pm they rescheduled it again for 2:00pm. Then some of the pessengers met the Airport Arikair Manager & protested for continues change of time. After that we were called & boarded Dash 400 Bombardier, when we were about to move, the lights and air conditio went off, it on and went off again. Then the Pilot announced to us that there's some technical problem which the engineers will check be embarking on the journey. After sometime, one lady stood up and said that even if its repaired she will not travel in this aircraft & the pilot told us to wait for the ground staff to come and address us. The manager just said they are sorry & that we should come back the next day, they will give us preference. At this point most of us got annoyed & we decided that since they knew that the aircraft gave us was not in good condition, we should stop all Arikair from flying or they give us another aircraft to take us to Sokoto. We have been dragging with them until the Regional Manager NCAA, FAAN Officials & SA to Minister of Aviation intervened and Arikair accepted to either to fly us to Sokoto or accommodate us in three star hotel and fly us next morning. So at this point I cancelled my trip to request for refund, because the aim of the journey is defeated, I wanted to go on that Sunday 1/03/15 to visit my kids in school and to return on Monday 2/03/15.
ReplyDeleteRail air are not treating passenger with good services
ReplyDelete