The Political Economy of the New York – Lagos Flight
By
Sam C. Okudah
At one point during the bidding war for control of the lucrative New York-Lagos
route, Ghana Airways was ahead of Virgin Atlantic Airlines and other
cream-of-the-crop competitors. I could not understand how that could be
happening on a level playing field. Not that I had anything against Ghana
Airways, but my thinking was that unless the bidding process was being run on
the "second eleven" philosophy that Nigeria's government is known for,
the picture should be different.
Finally we were presented with a winner: South African Airlines. Today, when I
think about South Africa, what comes to my mind first is not the apartheid, but
the man who helped lead the struggle that defeated that evil system - the one
and only Mandiba Nelson Mandela.
Well, just when Nigerians living in the US were getting used to what they've
always appreciated - the chance to board a flight in New York and disembark in
the tropical sun of our homeland - there came the news last week that South
African Airlines had canceled its year-old deal with Nigerian Airways. I've been
trying to figure out what went wrong. How could SAA have lost up to R54 million
on a route that would be considered a lucrative one? That didn't seem to make
sense.
I talked to my travel agent. She told me that the contract between the two
organizations allowed each side to sell into the seat allocations of the other,
if the partner could not sell off all its allocations. Based on that, she said,
Nigerian Airways had been selling more than its 109 seats, but had not been
forwarding the proceeds to SAA. This was how SAA, after a while, found itself in
the hole to the tune of R54 million.
Why would the Nigerian government, through its mismanaged airline, get involved
in the running of another airline? Why not just choose an airline capable of
offering an excellent service to Nigerians, and then charge that airline
whatever is reasonable for using Nigeria's airports and services? Why get mixed
up in this seat allocation nonsense? How can an airline that could not manage
itself be competent enough to co-manage another?
A few weeks back, in Abuja, a journalist asked an official of British Airways,
if the company was going to reduce the high rates it was charging Nigerians on
Lagos/Abuja - London routes, to reflect what it was charging on other routes
around the world. According to news reports, the official replied that the rates
would not go down because of the high volume of passengers the airline was
handling on those routes.
I could not believe what I had read. What made the whole thing even more
insulting and shameful was that of all the journalists there, none had the
wisdom and gut to challenge that official on his voodoo economics.
What happened to the well-known law of supply and demand? How in the world could
that British Airways official, right there at Abuja, be bold enough to insult
the intelligence of Nigerians, without being asked by our government to explain
the logic behind his remarks?
Why should our government be involving itself in bad business deals that leave
Nigerians ripped off? A few months back, I read about what Nigerians flying into
Port Harcourt Airport had been going through with a French airline. Our
government had granted this airline the monopoly of landing at Port Harcourt
Airport. Taking advantage of this monopoly, the airline has been charging
Nigerians over $400 higher than other airlines. One would think that one of the
duties of any government is to protect at all costs, the safety and interests of
its citizens. Obviously, that doesn't seem to apply in Nigeria.
Nigerians who travel between the US and our homeland are not asking for too much
in wishing to have direct flights between the two countries. They do not have
the time and money to waste in Europe. Our politicians and government officials
obviously couldn't care less, since a stopover in Europe gives them a chance to
shop at our expense.