Dear friends,

I had a sordid experience with Arik Air on July 1 2019. I was booked for a 6pm Abuja to Lagos flight. I was checked in waiting to board by 16:45 already. By 17:30 I waited to hear my flight to be announced on the PAS but heard nothing. By 17:59 I walked towards the gate only to be told that my flight had gone and the plane was taxiing already. I was puzzled and confused but immediately headed back to the ticketing station to reschedule.

On arriving at the ticketing station , I met with about 10 other folks who also didnt hear the announcement and subsequently missed the flight. I started smelling a rat, we were all required to pay an extra fee of about #3000 to get boarded on the next flight at 20:00. Not having any other alternative i moved on to pay.

At 20:00 an announcement was made that the flight would be delayed for 30 minutes which later became 1 hour 30 mins. When the flight finally arrived it was announced that the flight scheduled for 21:00 would be leaving before us. That sparked an outrage, well we had no choice but resented to fate. A few minutes later we were called upon to come board.

This is where the story gets interesting.

The passengers that were scheduled for the 21:00 flight who had been carted away from the boarding gate ahead of us were now told yo comer board our aircraft seeing it was bigger.

We finally got on board and just when the pre flight announcements were being made we observed a foul smell, it smelt like burning wires...I raised an alarm immedidately. Just about then the switches went off and on a few times, immediately i stood up and yanked my back pack from the overhead carriage. A lady beside me beckoned on me to calm down..I calmly told her she was free to die if she so chose. I grabbed my bag and left the plane. As i was stepping out one of the cabin crew members tried to dissuade us from stepping down and assured us all would be well. At that point I remembered only the living can praise the Lord. I got my bag and got off the plane.

On getting off I met a lady on the tarmac who had just gotten off before me. She told me she overheard the one pilot telling the one taking over that there was a malfunction with the plane he was about to fly.

What irked me was, what if the plane did notshow any sign before take off but during take off or mid flight? Why would a pilot on being notified of a potentail fault allow people to board the aircraft? Why did cabin crew members despite the obvious fault deter folks from getting off the aircraft? Why did they combine two flights on one faulty aircraft, and leave the apparently functional one on the ground?

Well, we eventually got aboard the aircraft that was scheduled for the 21:00 flight and another drama ensued. One of the passengers had dropped off his boarding pass because he had assumed itbwouldnt be required any longer (he only had a hand luggage). The cabin crew member refused him further passage down the aisle and the passenger just refused to be treated badly. We all had to wait another 45 odd minutes before the aircraft finally took off.

Seeing that there were delays alreayfrom their side I would have expected that the crew would have used a manifesto to confirm the passengers details, rather, they made him get off the aircraft to go look for his pass. The crew members except the cabin crew supervisor looked irritated and acted very unprofessionally. This is not the first time I experienced unproessionalism with Arik Air's crew members. They had a set of nasty ones on the Johannesburg route that made me donate money to another countrys airline. How sad..

Finally, the aircraft that we flew, a 737-300 sounded like a propellar plane on the right flank. We were terrified and prayed through the entire journey.

It is my humble plea that Arik planes and services be throughly investigated and if possible grounded on the basis of gross misconduct and intention to waste lives.

Serious? Hmm this can't be ignored. No Arik for me again o

Arik air the danfo of the air travel industry

jenkini:
Dear friends,

I had a sordid experience with Arik Air on July 1 2019. I was booked for a 6pm Abuja to Lagos flight. I was checked in waiting to board by 16:45 already. By 17:30 I waited to hear my flight to be announced on the PAS but heard nothing. By 17:59 I walked towards the gate only to be told that my flight had gone and the plane was taxiing already. I was puzzled and confused but immediately headed back to the ticketing station to reschedule.

On arriving at the ticketing station , I met with about 10 other folks who also didnt hear the announcement and subsequently missed the flight. I started smelling a rat, we were all required to pay an extra fee of about #3000 to get boarded on the next flight at 20:00. Not having any other alternative i moved on to pay.

At 20:00 an announcement was made that the flight would be delayed for 30 minutes which later became 1 hour 30 mins. When the flight finally arrived it was announced that the flight scheduled for 21:00 would be leaving before us. That sparked an outrage, well we had no choice but resented to fate. A few minutes later we were called upon to come board.

This is where the story gets interesting.

The passengers that were scheduled for the 21:00 flight who had been carted away from the boarding gate ahead of us were now told yo comer board our aircraft seeing it was bigger.

We finally got on board and just when the pre flight announcements were being made we observed a foul smell, it smelt like burning wires...I raised an alarm immedidately. Just about then the switches went off and on a few times, immediately i stood up and yanked my back pack from the overhead carriage. A lady beside me beckoned on me to calm down..I calmly told her she was free to die if she so chose. I grabbed my bag and left the plane. As i was stepping out one of the cabin crew members tried to dissuade us from stepping down and assured us all would be well. At that point I remembered only the living can praise the Lord. I got my bag and got off the plane.

On getting off I met a lady on the tarmac who had just gotten off before me. She told me she overheard the one pilot telling the one taking over that there was a malfunction with the plane he was about to fly.

What irked me was, what if the plane did notshow any sign before take off but during take off or mid flight? Why would a pilot on being notified of a potentail fault allow people to board the aircraft? Why did cabin crew members despite the obvious fault deter folks from getting off the aircraft? Why did they combine two flights on one faulty aircraft, and leave the apparently functional one on the ground?

Well, we eventually got aboard the aircraft that was scheduled for the 21:00 flight and another drama ensued. One of the passengers had dropped off his boarding pass because he had assumed itbwouldnt be required any longer (he only had a hand luggage). The cabin crew member refused him further passage down the aisle and the passenger just refused to be treated badly. We all had to wait another 45 odd minutes before the aircraft finally took off.

Seeing that there were delays alreayfrom their side I would have expected that the crew would have used a manifesto to confirm the passengers details, rather, they made him get off the aircraft to go look for his pass. The crew members except the cabin crew supervisor looked irritated and acted very unprofessionally. This is not the first time I experienced unproessionalism with Arik Air's crew members. They had a set of nasty ones on the Johannesburg route that made me donate money to another countrys airline. How sad..

Finally, the aircraft that we flew, a 737-300 sounded like a propellar plane on the right flank. We were terrified and prayed through the entire journey.

It is my humble plea that Arik planes and services be throughly investigated and if possible grounded on the basis of gross misconduct and intention to waste lives.

Bros calm down, I can see you are typing angrily which did a slight mess to your narrative. Try read and re-type your story.

Thank God for your life o

once flew Arik from lagos to Johannesburg ! that was the end for me with Arik !

jasper83:



Bros calm down, I can see you are typing angrily which did a slight mess to your narrative. Try read and re-type your story.

Bro yes i did it quite hurridly. The thrust of jist is in the text. If I choose to publish it in the papers, which I am considering, I will cotrect the typos.

I will be too glad if you can advise in which sections to modify though. Cheers