Flying Dana a year after crash

Posted by admin Aviation, Headlines Saturday, October 5th, 2013

Let me start by confessing that flying Dana Airline exactly one year after the tragic event of last year wasn’t deliberate. The truth is I didn’t realize I would be flying exactly on the first anniversary of the June 3, 2012 crash at the time I was buying the ticket. I had bought the ticket on Saturday, ahead of a Monday flight, to avoid the usual rush associated with early Monday flights.
I was going to Abuja to attend a panel discussion and formal launch of the Impact of the Internet in Sub Saharan Africa. The report was put together by Dalberg in conjunction with Google Nigeria.
As I was about buying my ticket on that Saturday, my daughter who had accompanied me to the airport pleaded with me not to buy Dana air ticket. She was scared. But I told her Dana would probably be the safest airline to patronize for now, because it must have learnt its lessons in a bitter way. Expectedly, the lady at the Dana counter re- echoed my words and assured my daughter that all would be well.
So I bought the ticket. It was almost half the price of Arik which I considered unnecessarily high. While Dana ticket went for N20, 300, Arik sold its own for almost N39, 000. Arik’s price to me was too high for a journey that is not more than an hour.
Agreed my trip was sponsored by my employer which in every sense is rich enough to afford the cost of any ticket, but the Ijebu blood in me won’t just allow me to spend two times the company’s money on a ticket that can go for half its price. Besides, Arik has not really done anything in the past to leave a lasting positive impression on me.

But when on Sunday I suddenly realized that I was going to fly Dana exactly one year after the crash, fear gripped me. I could still remember where I was last year when news of the crash flittered in. I had gone to the University of Lagos to attend an emergency alumni meeting hurriedly put together by the alumni association following President Goodluck Jonathan’s national broadcast on UNILAG’s renaming to Moshood Abiola University of Lagos. I had just finished interviewing Prof Oye Ibidapo-Obe, a former vice-chancellor of the university, when my friend, Stella, who was also at the meeting, told me of the sad development. We all went cold. And that ended the meeting.

However, the story on June 3, 2013 was different. It was a smooth flight that brought everyone to their destination in peace. The cabin crew was courteous and in-flight refreshment superb. The captain took his time to explain the flight route and encouraged passengers to sit back and enjoy the flight.

This, we did. And it was indeed a pleasant experience. I was so much impressed that I didn’t think twice before flying Dana back to Lagos. But whether whatever was done that day was real or just part of a grand design of a resuscitating airline to woo passengers after the tragic incident of last year, is another issue entirely. Time will tell.

While one would encourage Dana to always strive to adhere strictly to global standard in its operations, airlines in Nigeria should know that they don’t have to spill the blood of their passengers before learning to do the right thing.

-Punchwp_posts