Tag: South African
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Passengers decry South African Airways flight delays
SOME passengers are worried over the delay in flights of South African Airways (SAA) from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
Two passengers, Frank Adeluyi and Williams Oladeji, said the delays were having negative impact on their business, warning that further delays might force them to seek redress.
Adeluyi said the problem is becoming worrisome.
Oladeji said poor service delivery was no longer acceptable in the global aviation community.
He called on the airline and the affected service providers to raise the bar of service to avoid any unnecessary infraction on passengers.
These worries are coming on the heels of recent delays in the take-off time of the carrier, which now ranges from 40 to 50 minutes.
According to investigations, the delay in flights is not connected with the ongoing renovation of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, which led to the switching into new processes and procedures for check-in. This,observers say, might have made SAA to change its ground handler at the airport.
Passengers, it was learnt, are disturbed over the trend, which they said, was taking a huge toll on their travels.
In the last one week, attempts to reduce the delays in flight have not abated raising concerns whether the change in service provider for ground and passenger handling may be responsible for the problem.
Investigations reveal that the switch from the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCOAVIANCE), PLC to the Skyways Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL), may have caused some integration challenges that are affecting the operations of SAA.
SAHCOL, it was learnt, since it took over ground handling of SAA at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, is poised to render quality services, though some passengers allege that the delays in flights of the carrier might have arisen because of alleged poor services by the firm.
Some passengers also alleged that equipment incapacity and service delivery might linger until the ground handling firms in Nigeria prepare for the take- over of airlines with adequate operations.
However, a source close to SAA said the airline should not be blamed for the hitch.
He added that because the ground handing equipment at the airport broke down, officials of the firm have been loading baggage into the aircraft manually.
An official of the ground handling firm, who refused to be named, said it was working hard to rectify the problem.
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South African experience
Professor Abiodun Salawu, a former colleague at The Punch newspaper, used to be a Mass Communication lecturer at The Polytechnic, Ibadan, University of Lagos and later Ajayi Crowther University.
I was, however, surprised to hear that he relocated to South Africa some years ago considering that there are not enough mass communication scholars to teach in Mass Communication departments in the country’s public and private universities.
Following his recent appointment to Mazisi Kunene Chair at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, I had an online interview with him during which he spoke on his experience living and teaching in South Africa.
Why did you relocate to South Africa?
I relocated to South Africa because of the better infrastructure in the country. Today, it has the best infrastructure on the continent; certain aspects of these, some people call world class. The research environment is also an attraction. There are motivations and facilities for research.
What is the difference between being a lecturer in South Africa and Nigeria?
This goes back to my last statement. The infrastructure and facilities are there to enable you do your work without much hassles. Colleagues in the sciences appreciate this better as they require certain equipment and facilities in their laboratories to do their work. For us in the humanities, we appreciate more the abundant online resources that we have to do our work. Provision of basic office facilities is also appreciated.
What do you miss about Nigeria?
I miss the culture of our people. I miss the culture of respect for elders, of appreciation of good deeds, of communalism and of industry. I miss listening to high standard Yoruba on certain radio/television programmes and movies. I also miss our foods – amala, ewedu, yam, fried plantain etc.
How would you describe living in South Africa?
It is a more organised living.
What should Nigeria learn from South Africa?
Nigeria can learn organisation of higher education from South Africa. Research is a priority in South Africa and there is huge provision of funds to facilitate, motivate and incentivise it. Many of our colleagues in Nigeria do not have (regular) opportunities to attend international conferences, but this is what an average lecturer in South Africa takes for granted.
We can also do better with little or no disruption in our academic calendars as a result of staff strikes. Since I came here, I have not heard of staff (either academic or non-academic) going on strike. May be, we can just say such is rare here. Of course, there are grievances but they hardly result into industrial actions. I guess we need to find a way of managing conflict in our public institutions. This requires sincerity. The campuses in South Africa are much more peaceful than our own campuses. The fear of student cultism is remote. Even when students go on strike, it is not usually prolonged; and the grievances may be about lack of study loans. There was a time when students at University of Fort Hare demonstrated and one of the things they were demonstrating about was lack of internet in their residences.
Full interview on : staging.thenationonlineng.net/category/online-special/