Arik recovers market share, turns around reputation on OTP, others
Managers know the importance of their companies’ reputations. Firms with strong positive reputations attract better people. They are perceived as providing more value, which often allows them to charge a premium.
This makes their customers to be more loyal and buy broader range of products and services.
Moreover, in an economy where 70 per cent to 80 per cent of market value comes from hard-to-assess intangible assets such as brand equity, intellectual capital, and goodwill, organizations are especially vulnerable to anything that damages their reputations.
That summarises the position of Nigeria’s flag carrier airline, Arik at inception when it burst onto the scene as the pride of the nation after the demise of Nigeria Airways. Many saw the airline as the next big thing in aviation and rightly so because of the state-of-the-art aircraft it brought to the scene; top notch maintenance support by renowned Lufthansa Tecnic.
Aside that, the carrier came with such an ambitious project that would have made the likes of Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airways green with envy if the promoters of the project had not derailed.
The carrier got good funding and was heavily supported by the government because they saw it as a very good alternative to the defunct Nigeria Airways. Shortly after, the airline grew massively and expanded so rapidly in less than two years, becoming the fastest growing airline in the continent, if not in the world.
For a privately owned airline to grow exponentially in less than two years showed how savvy the promoters were, backed by their deep pocket. Not even ASKY, RwandAir grew the way Arik operated in the first few years of operations.
The inability of the owners to manage that success coupled with complacency which robbed off on ground and technical staff led it to the beginning of trouble. The takeover of the company by the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) over alleged N500bn debts almost brought the airline to its knees.
Before now, Arik flights to different destinations operated late or were cancelled without prior notice. Passengers both on international and domestic route had bitter experiences from passengers who dreaded to fly with the airlines.
There were deluge of complaints which did calculated damage on the Arik brand. The airline lost grounds with its competitors. Arik was no longer the preferred choice of passengers. They lost both high end clientele and the middle class market.
The airline’s senior management are therefore not just looking at the short term. They want to put into place a comprehensive plan of action to improve customer service and increase passenger loyalty. And they want to make sure that it sticks. They want to get back to being close to their customers, and they want every person in their organization to commit themselves to this goal. They know it will take some time, but they also know their future depends on it.
The the new management has done a lot of work in changing the narrative. It is beginning to focus on business on-time performance.
What they have done is to gain the confidence of their suppliers especially the oil marketers. One problem the old management had was their inability to get credit facility from oil marketers and this was responsible for the service disruption experienced then.
Now, oil marketers are ready to do business with the carrier again because they have the capacity to now pay their bills as and when due.
Things have really changed with the airline as it is massively investing in rebuilding its reputation as passengers are now coming back.
I can proudly tell you that the airline’s On-Time-Performance (OTP) now averages 85 per cent and 90 per cent.
Aside that, Arik is continuously improving through training, active front desk leadership and feedback management.
It is not Uhuru yet but they have improved. One of the issues in the past was the late payment of staff salaries but with the coming of our partners, AMCON, staff salaries are now paid as and when due. This has boosted the morale of the generality of the staff and they are happy performing their roles.
A visit to the airline’s counters at the Lagos airport shows a departure from the past as ticketing staff and ground staff showed high level of courtesy, prompting our correspondent to ask what could have necessitated this changed attitude.
The seamless and quick attention passengers get are very welcoming. Facilitation is quickly done, leaving passengers satisfied.
One can say without fear of contradiction that Arik now ranks first in Nigeria in terms of On-Time-Performance among domestic airlines.
Google+
