Originally Published in MArch 2006

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The story of Bellview is one of gradual growth and expansion, possibly the implementation of a strategic  v ision by one who seeks after excellence. Those who knew the founder from his days as a young man in living in Ilupeju Estate often find gratification in the telling of a local son made good for himself. For me however, recent travel with Bellview Airlines helped to illustrate again the apparent problems, in my opinion mostly to do with shortage of competent hands and a permissive society, of most local airlines and the corresponding difficulties faced by air travellers in Nigeria.

On a budget flight to the London recently, the inevitability of the collective loss to Nigeria resulting from an unwillingness or perhaps inability to do things right and the absence of requisite human resources for managing the provision of quality service even in specialised sectors became ever more evident.

To start with the flight was delayed unannounced for more than three hours, totally negating the initial sense of efficiency that greeted the customer when check-in went very smoothly and even immigrations and customs checks were absolutely fuss free. To compound the wait in a thankfully clean albeit Spartan departure lounge, officials of the airline although in full view of passengers made no moves to provide information on the reason for the delay and to prevent being asked they avoided eye contact with any one while they set up post far inside an area restricted to passengers.

The wait afforded me the opportunity to observe the comings and goings of aircrafts and other activities associated with a busy airport, especially one as strategically located as the Muritala Mohammed Airport in Lagos. The only problem was that there was no coming and going, in fact there was not any activity to indicate that this was even an airport in use. Except of a few specialised vehicles rolling languidly around the Bellview planes that were waiting to take off with the very few passengers some of whom had dosed off having waited in vain for reasons to explain why they were still here three hours after scheduled take off.

The baggage handlers did not seem to mind the delay since there were no other flights to attend to and they were no doubt having fun with their equipment as they practised with lifting each other on and off the airplane baggage compartment. The worrisome bit was that they also fiddled with some controls on the body of the plane and opened and shut flaps that must have concealed valves and other such device into which they randomly poked unpractised hands. I am not sure if any of this extra curricular activity by baggage handlers was reason for the unexplained whine that accompanied the plane as it struggled to attain optimum altitude all the way to Lilongwe Airport in Sierra Leone. However, if any of the other passengers noticed, they were very quiet and seemed completely unruffled by the sound that brought to mind a grinding machine gone wrong.

When passengers had been let on board the aircraft preparatory to take off, the delay to the flight was explained by the pilot as being due to operational difficulties caused by non-availability of aviation fuel even as he urged us to look at the tanker whose hose was attached to the wing of the aircraft. Refuelling took longer than expected leading to further delay and while drinks were served to now wilted passengers, the pilot’s voice over the public address again explained that there was technical difficulty with getting the aeroplane to take up the fuel. He urged our patience and thanked us for understanding, saying that they were considering other means of getting the plane fuelled that should not take very long. So that in addition to operational difficulties, we now had technical difficulties that was extending a proposed 10 hour trip, taking into consideration the stop over in Lilongwe, to 14 hours or more. This is of course very normal when one chooses national airlines usually for economic reasons because if one had money to spare it is unlikely given the plethora of operational and technical difficulties that you would choose a Nigerian managed airline over and above that managed by foreigners.

The pleasures of the flight are not worth recounting save to say that it was apparent that we were flying in a crate that was obviously old and well past its sell by date. The age of the aircraft however bothered me less than the levels and quality of maintenance to which it might have been subjected. A clear indication of a poor attitude to maintenance and safety for me was the free access given to baggage handlers for fiddling with components of an aircraft that was about to embark on a flight. As they opened and shut flaps without an engineer or other technician in sight to monitor what was being done, I was left with little confidence in the technical viability of the flight whether or not the aircraft is new. I continued on the journey only because I had a mission to carry out with no alternative means of doing so. Also I had bought a ticket on which there was no refund. Therefore, since no one else showed any anxiety I decided to take the chance and just go. Besides I reasoned to myself that none of those things on the outside of the plane was of vital importance or relevance to flight safety. There was also a high enough probability that we would arrive and we did.

The return leg of the flight was plagued with similar problems, technical and operational. Initial information provided by check-in clerks that the flight had been cancelled due to operational reasons led to panic among intending passengers who probably had made no allowance for additional funds to take alternative trips home and were unwilling to make London their primary place of abode as illegal migrants. The information thankfully was updated soon after to a delay of an indeterminable period but with certainty that the flight would leave at some point in that twenty-four hour period. A notice on the information board that passengers should proceed to the departure gate brought added relief and all passengers huddled around the gate awaiting instructions to embark. It is worthy of note that for this Bellview flight to Lilongwe, no announcements came over the public address as with other flights out of Heathrow Airport which may have been why passengers were compelled to remain at the departure gate instead of roaming duty free shops hunting for last minute bargains like passengers of other airlines.

Again on embarkation, the pilot and captain of the ship apologised with practised smoothness for the delay and explained it away as being due to technical reasons, one of which became apparent as soon as the airplane started to taxi for take off. The persistent thumping like a mule looking to systematically burst its way out of the baggage compartment was a sound begging for an explanation and many passengers not willing to sit this one through quietly asked cabin crew about it even as we all tried to put up a brave face. We were informed (too late!) that this was the reason for the delay but the fault that had been fixed was with the fuel pump which because of its hydraulic nature made this type of noise to reassure pilot and passengers alike that it was still functional. We were told that we should worry only if we no longer heard the sound but this was not reassuring enough to passengers some of whom openly brought out prayer beads, in the hope of making heaven if this particular bird did not go home to roost.

As we thumped our way over the Sahara and other countries of Northwest Africa, we were attended to by cabin crew who like staff of NIB (used to be Citibank) had a condescending manner that made it clear to passengers that they were doing us a favour at great inconvenience to themselves. They worked to make sure that this would be a never to forgotten experience, in total negation of in flight service advertised by other airlines as why they should be preferred, even if you are paying budget fares. One passenger was put right back in line when an air stewardess pointed her index finger in warning at him and told him off to everyone’s hearing for having attracted her attention in a way she did not like and would most certainly not tolerate from anyone, even a paying customer. It seemed she stopped just short of adding especially not from a budget customer sitting in economy class.

When we stopped over in Lilongwe to let off Sierra Leoneans who outnumbered Nigerians on the flight nearly two to one, there was a loud cheer led by an elderly Saro man who had called out loudly to his onetime staff sitting in another section through the entire flight, holding loud conversations of how good things were in those days. While we waited on board to take off again some of the passengers got to talking about the commercial viability of this flight to Bellview Airlines particularly as a prognosis for locally owned or managed airline businesses in Nigeria. The problems they identified were operational difficulties that many put down to a seeming ineptitude on the part of the Nigerians who in spite of running these flights several times a week still cannot overcome minor logistical problems that lead to long delays. They talked about the age of the aircrafts available to airline operators in third world countries and our appalling maintenance records born of the same ineptitude and an uncaring attitude. They explained that the scant attention paid to safety on our airways eroded passenger confidence and prevented more people from patronising Nigerian operated airlines even if services were offered free.

One man was convinced that if Nigerian airlines could get a critical mass of passengers, then the flights would become economically viable and that our airports, many of which have decayed from lack of use, would be better utilised. He of course pointed out the opportunity for job creation from increased commerce and other relevant activity at these airports. He was disappointed at the short sightedness and snobbishness of Nigerians that prevented them from seeing the opportunities and potential of viable locally owned and operated airlines. He agonised over our lack of understanding that increased patronage would lead to improved services and lower fares. He pointed out that Sierra Leoneans showed more appreciation for the budget rates offered by Bellview and as such availed of increased opportunity for international travel provided, going by their numbers on the flight. He made clear his lack of respect for his fellow Nigerians who insisted on helping build foreign airline businesses to the detriment of Nigerian ones, even at greater expense to self, as such denying the opportunity for more frequent travel to other Nigerians who could not pay the exorbitant fares charged by these foreign airlines.

The questions he did not provide answers to was why most Nigerian operated airlines, even for local flights are very seldom able to fly as scheduled. Why even though our planes are not the oldest in the world, they seem to suffer more technical problems, why customer relations is so poor that one would choose to take ones money elsewhere for better service even if that means paying more. He also failed to empathise with the Nigerian traveller who did not want to be the guinea pig while local airlines experimented with getting it right.

These questions were never answered as we took off for Murtala Mohammed airport, this time without the thumping sound that accompanied the first leg of the flight. It was impossible to tell if the pilot and passengers were reassured or troubled by the absence of the sound but no one cheered like the Sierra Leoneans did when our Bellview flight landed safely at Murtala Mohammed Airport in the wee hours of the following morning. Perhaps people were tired from having been travelling for more than 18 hours anxious about technical problems that could resurface mid-flight. On the other hand, maybe minds had turned to thoughts of getting to final destinations, driving through the under policed crime ridden streets of Lagos.