The government has already done its part by giving you a seat at the table, and Nigerians have already shown loyalty by packing your flights and giving you preference as their own patriotic gesture. Now, you must tighten your belt and make sure you can compete so we consumers also can get lower prices. If you think they are pricing below cost, then you too should seek investors with deep pockets who can put in more money in the short term so you too can compete at a loss for a while until you all sort out the price war
By Ope Banwo
I am all for giving Nigerian airlines a fair chance to compete on international routes against foreign airlines, and I want to first give Hon. Festus Keyamo, SAN, his full flowers and accolades as Minister of Aviation for working tirelessly to ensure Mr. Onyeama and Air Peace got a chance to sit at the table of international flight operators from Nigeria.
I especially applaud Hon Festus Keyamo’s personal intervention despite the fact that Onyeama is Igbo, when many love to accuse the Asiwaju Government of only supporting Yoruba businesses or penalising Igbo business people.
By the testimony of Mr Onyeama himself, Keyamo was hands-on, and he even travelled abroad with them to help them negotiate, and we thank God that they secured the charter, and the Nigerian government also backed them up.
Nigerians have also great patriotism and support for Air Peace as they started showing a preference for supporting our own to win over foreign competitors.
However, now that the charter has been given, it’s time Air Peace buckles up and gets ready to compete in the global marketplace.
Someone should send a memo to Mr Onyema that he is NOT in Aba anymore. This is big boy jungle now.
The whole idea of allowing competition is to ensure prices go down so consumers and travellers can get the best deal as the operators vie for their business with better pricing and services.
So, why are Air Peace and Allen Onyema crying about a so-called conspiracy by the foreign airlines to lower costs as a way of frustrating him in a price war he actually started? Or did he forget how he introduced himself to the big boys and the foreign airlines business? He slashed prices!
If you can’t compete on price then compete on better services. For instance have a better frequent flyer program that will make people remain loyal to you even at higher prices. I have paid higher prices many times to fly on delta airlines for all my international trips because they treat me well. Their frequent flyer programs work for me so I don’t usually mind that extra $150 or $250 I have had to pay in some cases when their fairs are not lowest in route. Do whatever you have to do to compete but for God’s sake stop whining and stop using emotional blackmail on Nigerians. It won’t work because at the end of the day, everyone looks out for their own pockets just like you are looking out to make more profits
I recall watching Mr. Onyema sounding so patriotic when he announced that he had reduced the prices of Air Peace flights to London to make them more affordable for Nigerians and wondered if he even understood that he just started a price war he may not be able to handle.
They ran adverts and social media videos to show that they cared about us and slashed prices to ensure we get better prices than those of the overpriced tickets of other foreign airlines.
Now, I am surprised to see Mr. Onyeama and Air Peace trying to play the victim card now that the foreign airlines have responded and slashed their own prices to lower than his, so they too can attract more customers.
So, why are Onyema and Air Peace crying? It’s called a price war, and you started it! What exactly was Air Peace expecting? That these much more experienced airlines would just crawl away and die? Or they would just let you take away all the lunch they have been enjoying alone for years without fighting back? Please grow up, sir.
Now, this is no longer Nigeria, where you and your local operators always increased prices to torment us. You are now competing with the big boys, and it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there. You have to learn to adapt to survive because these international giants will not let you run roughshod over them.
It’s called an open marketplace. It’s called a price war, and it won’t end until the race to the bottom is concluded, and the consumers get the lowest prices they can. You must compete or perish. That’s the rule of the economic jungle. It’s always survival of the fittest, sir.
Meanwhile, consumers are laughing all the way from Lagos to London because, for the first time ever, prices are falling for international flights. Let consumers enjoy that, sir. Improve your services. Make your operations more efficient, and maybe customers will stick with you.
Why should I pay you $1,200 if your competitor is asking for $1,100? Your threats that if you are unable to compete, Nigeria will lose billions of dollars is just sentimental hogwash from a company that refused to compete effectively on the international level.
The goal of every consumer is to pay less for services where possible, and if those airlines are offering $100 less, as you claimed, you have no right to expect those flyers to pay you the higher price because they are fellow citizens. You are not a charitable organization. You keep your profits and spend them on yourself or your family. Why should we suffer to make you richer? No, sir.
The government has already done its part by giving you a seat at the table, and Nigerians have already shown loyalty by packing your flights and giving you preference as their own patriotic gesture. Now, you must tighten your belt and make sure you can compete so we consumers also can get lower prices.
If you think they are pricing below cost, then you too should seek investors with deep pockets who can put in more money in the short term so you too can compete at a loss for a while until you all sort out the price war. You can’t come into the industry undercutting your competitors by charging lower prices and then start crying when they fight back by lowering prices even lower than yours, sir.
If you can’t compete on price then compete on better services. For instance have a better frequent flyer program that will make people remain loyal to you even at higher prices. I have paid higher prices many times to fly on delta airlines for all my international trips because they treat me well. Their frequent flyer programs work for me so I don’t usually mind that extra $150 or $250 I have had to pay in some cases when their fairs are not lowest in route. Do whatever you have to do to compete but for God’s sake stop whining and stop using emotional blackmail on Nigerians. It won’t work because at the end of the day, everyone looks out for their own pockets just like you are looking out to make more profits.
I love you, sir, and wish your airline will survive after going through so much effort to get into the international routes, but don’t come at us with emotional blackmail as compatriots. You have your license. Now go and compete while we root for you!
My name is Ope Banwo, and I believe in marketplace competition. The Economic Jungle is survival of the fittest, and that is the Fadeyi Way.
