A Study of #Airline Travel in Africa

Most people have heard about the United Airlines incident where a passenger was dragged off a flight in April 2017. Three days after the incident United Airlines elected to provide all passengers aboard that flight compensation equal to the cost of their tickets while United and the passenger reached a confidential settlement afterwards. I traveled in the US twice this year and even though I am price-sensitive, I would not travel with United because the scary incident is fresh in my mind. That is the sort of reputational risk that US carriers are afraid of because they are in a competitive market. Last month I flew to Los Angeles on a non-refundable ticket on Delta but I had to cut my trip short due to unforeseen circumstances so I called the airline and they very graciously allowed me to change my ticket for a fee which was lower than the cost of a new ticket. So far I have been talking about the US airline market only to illustrate the African airline market where customers are taken for granted because they often don't have many choices of carriers. A few African airlines are trying to grow into dominate players but they still have execution challenges because service is not a major focus in Africa. Globalization has led to many Africans to escape economic hardships at home work abroad or traveling join family members living abroad so Africans are traveling more than before. Africa has some of the most lucrative airline destinations in the world and it is no accident that Richard Branson's Virgin Airways fought British Airways so much over the London to Lagos route. African routes, especially within the continent, are so poorly served that people are just grateful to find a flight so they don't complain too much even when they get bad service. I travel a lot so I can review some of these airlines based on my personal experience.

Kenya Airways and Etihad

#KenyaAirways or KQ, as the Kenyans call it, was the last airline I flew, two weeks ago. I am the queen of budget travel so I found a cheap ticket online to New York which was a combination of Kenya Airways and #Etihad. It had long layovers but I figured it was an opportunity for me to see friends in Nairobi, where I spent one night. Kenya Airways outward flight went well but the connecting flight from Nairobi to Abu Dhabi on Etihad turned into a veritable nightmare. As soon as we boarded flight EY 624 on 16 July, they announced that there was a problem with the plane so they would try to fix the plane while we sat onboard. Two hours later they announced that they could not fix the door so would any passengers like to volunteer to get off the plane. Several passengers got off and two hour hour later we were still sitting on the plane, which was apparently still overloaded so I got up to ask the staff if it was possible for me to be put on a different flight, direct to New York. The Kenyan man who was handling ground administration snapped at me that if I was in a hurry to get to the US then I had better get back to my seat and sit down. Finally they announced that all passengers had to get off the plane. We felt like refugees at that point. They handed out water and soda drinks but a lot of people were hungry. I was anxious about attending the Texworld trade show so I went out to change some money, bought food and credit to make calls. All passengers going out had to surrender their passports. As I got back in there was an Australian man, a fellow passenger who had handed out candy to everyone earlier when we were stuck on the plane, who went around taking video of the shameful situation we had found ourselves in. He was interviewing other passengers and highlighting the condition of the children on the flight, who were very uncomfortable. Finally they started calling out the names of passengers and we got back on the plane but I believe that not everyone was allowed back on. It was their way of selecting that 28 passengers were taken off the damaged plane. When we got back on it was a free-for-all. Indian passengers are very vocal but Africans went on meekly and were grateful to get on the plane at all. I sat next to a kind Kenyan lady who worked as a nurse in Abu Dhabi and was on her way back from her annual leave. The whole delay had taken about 6 hours so thank goodness I had a long layover in Abu Dhabi because I barely made my connecting flight to New York. There was no offer of compensation from Etihad. Etihad is trying hard to compete with Emirates but it is no Emirates when it comes to service. I will not fly them again. I can't say the same about Kenya Airways because they are the second biggest airline in Africa so I will have to use them again at some point.

The nightmare with Kenya Aiways was on the return flight EY4077 from Nairobi to Harare on 6 August, 2017. First of all, it was an ancient Embrarer plane which must have been at least 30 years old. The flight went on schedule but when I landed in Harare, I was one of about 3 passengers whose luggage did not arrive. My two bags showed up two days later and when I picked up my suitcases, they were soaking wet and damaged. I was so upset, I went to the baggage handling to complain and they referred me to Kenya Airways. When I unpacked my bags, I washed as many items as I could then put a few dry cleanable items in a plastic garbage bag and took them to the Kenya Airways office with the damaged suitcases. The lady at the office said they would send my bags for repair but I should pay for my dry cleaning and claim after. A few days later she called to say the zippers on my suitcases had been repaired but the wheels on one suitcase still could not turn 360 degrees. I spoke to the manager of the Harare office, a guy called Fred and he insisted that my suitcase was not damaged enough to replace. I had only ever had a suitcase damaged by a US carrier and they replaced the bag without any argument so I was surprised at the manager's attitude. But ultimately everyone expects Africans, especially in Zimbabwe, to accept any sort of bad treatment they they are given.

Ethiopian Airlines

#EthiopianAirlines used to have the rudest cabin staff in the business but now that the airline is the biggest carrier in Africa, they are making an effort to be friendly to passengers. The airport in Addis Ababa had become a major hub for travelers going to Europe, the US and elsewhere but it is one of the worst airports in Africa. There are passengers passing through 24 hours a day yet there is almost nothing there in the way of amenities. The airline is competing simply on price. One time I got to Addis Ababa airport with no cash and I wanted to buy breakfast at one of the two restaurants there. They would not accept cards so I was directed to the only ATM machine which was downstairs, only to find it out of order. The whole place has the air of a refugee transit point and the people working there have no sense of service. Even the wait staff in the restaurants are rude, the place smells of smoke and the restrooms are atrocious. Dubai airport, it is not!

South African Airways

I am a Voyager member, the #SouthAfricanAirways loyalty program, but often the fees on an award ticket are higher than flights on a budget airline like Fastjet so I ended up not redeeming my miles. South African Airways tickets on the Harare-Johannesburg route are almost double those of Fastjet and Air Zimbabwe normally and their are also old so there is no clear benefit to taking them. Occasionally there is a sale so I got a good deal when I went to New York in May but I am a planner so I try to buy my tickets well in advance when they are cheaper. What I appreciate about SAA is that it is generally drama-free. It is my airline of choice when I go to Nigeria or Ghana.

Egyptair

I love a bargain so when I was going to Greece to celebrate my birthday in June, I found a cheap ticket from Johannesburg via Cairo on #Egyptair. The great thing was that if you had a layover of over 6 hours they would give you a hotel near the airport with all meals and transport free. It worked out nicely on the way out and on the way back I had 26 hours in Cairo so I got to visit the pyramids and see Cairo. The only thing is my flight landed at midnight from Athens and there were no shuttle buses so I ended up taking a taxi to the hotel. The food at the hotel was awesome and yes, we got all three meals. Tourism is down due to security concerns in Egypt and it is heavily dependent on tourism so they will do anything to attract tourists. There were very few visitors at the pyramids in Giza and my taxi driver told me that I was the first passenger he had driven from Cairo to Giza in 6 months. The problem I had was on the return flight. It was full of jolly South African pilgrims coming back from Israel and many of them were elderly. Egyptair 839 on 6 July 2017 had not been fueled or loaded the catering on the plane so we ended up sitting on the plane for two hours while they loaded it. There was no air-conditioning because the ventilation had not been turned on yet and that plane must have been sitting on the ground in the desert sun all day because it was like an oven. I was feeling sick and the old people on the plane were on the verge of fainting so they asked for water and there was a crew member walking around giving out water. When we finally took off I didn't sleep a wink because there was so much turbulence I felt like the plane was dropping a few times. Those pilgrims and I said some strong prayers that night. No matter how cheap it is, I will not fly that airline again.

Fastjet

#Fastjet is the only truly budget airline operating in Africa. You pay for meals and drinks onboard, which is fine. My only issue with them is over luggage allowances. When you purchase your ticket online, you are given a free luggage allowance. It used to be 2 pieces of luggage, 23 kilograms each. I flew Fastjet from Harare to Johannesburg on the early morning flight on 19 June with 2 bags and the guy on duty told me that their luggage policy had changed so I had to pay $30 for the second piece of luggage. That ticket had been purchased online in April when it clearly said that I was allowed two pieces of luggage free. It was early in the morning, I just wanted to get on the flight so I paid the $30 which was exorted from me. Turns out that Fastjet is currently using a small, Embraer plane for that route, hence the reduction in luggage allowance. Recently I went by the Fastjet office to pay for a ticket and I just wanted to confirm my luggage. It turned out that the same man served me and he informed me that the luggage allowance was now one piece of luggage of 23 kg.

Air Zimbabwe

When I traveled to Tanzania for Christmas Fastjet tried to charge me for luggage so I turned to#AirZimbabwe for the first time in 15 years and they allowed two checked bags on the flight to Dar es Salaam. The outward flight went without incident and it was actually quite festive. The return flight after New Year was delayed by 5 hours but the airport was full of Zimbabweans returning from vacation so it was a party atmosphere in the airport as we all bought each other food and drinks. Encouraged, I decided to give Air Zim another chance when I was flying to Johannesburg from Harare, the week before Easter. Apparently their usual plane was out of order and they had leased a small charter plane so most of their passengers were left behind, fuming. The flight was delayed which led me to be late for my appointment in Johannesburg. I had a flight at 5pm on #TurkishAirlines that evening and it was the first time I had ever missed a flight. I made it to the airport before take-off and I had checked in online but the Turkish Airlines ground staff were not very accommodating. That is another airline struck off my list.

West African Local Airlines

Airline travel is no longer glamorous. Even if you are in business or first class, you all suffer the same discomfort of there are delays or if you are stuck in a hot plane. Elsewhere in the world, airlines are afraid of facing the wrath of their passengers if they do wrong but in Africa, airlines expect to intimidate their customers into submission because they do not have many options. I have not going into details about some of the smaller airlines servicing West Africa. The flight from Lagos to Accra is less than an hour but I have had 5 hour delays. In April when I was flying from Lagos to Accra on #AfricaWorldAirlines, they charged me excess baggage for a bag then told me that they do not accept foreign cards. I had just been been ripped off by the customs officers who took my last Nigerian currency so I was in distress until a Nigerian businessman who was checking in felt sorry for me and gave me some cash. The problem with Africans is that they have no compassion for their customers. They do not have the initiative to make exceptions in any situation the way US airline staff do. They follow orders like robots and forget that the reason they are there is to serve the customers. Obviously the next time I am traveling in West Africa I will not choose Africa World Airlines! travel within Africa is difficult, it is hard to get a flight from one country into the next and some airlines do not fly every day so very often you have to take whatever airline that is available that time but that does not mean we have to put up with bad service.