Aero Contractors: Tunde Fagbemi’s turn

By Joseph Edgar . . .

Tunde Fegbemi is my Inlaw. Very affable, ambitious and a dreamer. A session with him usually takes you up to giddy heights that puts one on a pedestal believing the unbelievable. His vision saw him revolutionizing our International Airports which saw revenues quadruple and in turn exposed him to the wicked eyes of the untrained and greedy.

But this his latest assignment has put him in a position for the fight of his life. aMCON has just appointed him to head the oldest private airline in the country. This airline is not only old in age but terrible in customer service and all other indices of operation. It’s scheduling is a nightmare and the staff morale is one of the lowest in the industries. Its fleet is old and creaky and it operates in a highly regulated environment that collects the dilapidated Naira as revenue but expenses mostly in hard currency.

This is what Tunde is coming to face, he is expected to work magic and not only return the airline to its old glory days but also trade out the huge debt owed the AMCON while returning it to profitability. As I write this early morning, I really do not envy Tunde. He had better have a rethink of this and instead go back to his Ekiti State and see how he can persuade Fayose to decamp to APC because I think he could stand a better chance of succeeding at that instead of this Aero mess.

But if I know Mr Fagbemi very well, he would be smiling at this minute preparing to jump into the fray. Tunde is no stranger to conflict as he single handedly with his Maevis fought a battle with the FAAN only the lion hearted could. He had signed a contract during the Obasanjo regime to use technology to amongst others revolutionize operations at designated Airports, ramp up revenues and increase efficiency. He had gone after this with gusto taking up the different cabals that controlled the Airports at that time.

He brought in a massive computerization of the systems and facilities, blocked loopholes that led to huge leakages from where revenues where seeping into the hands of the evil ones. Working with his bankers and several international counter parties, Tunde succeeded in his mission but due to his supposed political naivety emanating from the end of the favourable Obasanjo regime, he fell into a den of wolves.

Series of attacks, four cases and pure manhandling led to the end of that vision. He was kicked out of the Airport. He gave a good fight, winning strategically at the courts even at some point almost getting the then DG at FAAN committed to jail. But like everything Nigerian, he lost that fight and with a heavy heart he left the Airports.

I guess his sagacity and determination has stood him in great stead for this task, which if you ask me would grant him a fight for his life. This adrenaline inducing appointment will task Tunde to the very limits of his endurance for he will be fighting a thousand demons in his attempt at revamping this dragon. If I were in his shoes, I will refuse this assignment and run, but the Tunde I know, he will move in with his grey goatee and take on this Herculean task with a seemingly death defying resolve to succeed.

My advice for him is to immediately restructure the operations, look for incentives to motivate the staff but after weeding out the chaff. The ground staff all need to be swept away for I do not even believe that there is a single one that is ready for the new Aero. Their level of inefficiency is legendary and they remain some of the most corrupt in the field. The cabin staff plus pilots remain very hardworking and courteous even in the face of the worse kind of operating environment. An immediate system of rejuvenation, giving them internationally standard approved customer service engagement be infused into their training and much importantly Tunde should look at the scheduling of their flights.

Aero is the worse when it comes to meting out severe punishment to hapless passengers. At some point one could be permitted to think that there was an arrangement between the Airline and food vendors at the airport to cause these delays so that passengers could spend more money on food and drink. At its peek over 90% of Aero flights where running hours behind schedule all over the country causing chaos at Airports, messing up appointments and costing billions in failed meetings, wasted man hours. Infact at some point Aero can be blamed for being a major factor in our economic doom with its penchant for keeping people from their destinations, aborting meetings and allowing for planlessness.

Tunde should look at raising fresh capital from the market. He can float a private Bond, ring fencing it from the AMCON just yet so that the funds can flow into its operations. He should look at the fleet in a bid to renewing it and expanding their route internationally so that he can look at revenues in forex.

Working with advisers, he can float international debt instruments, set up a sinking fund which would take a small percentage of revenues for management and then positioned for either debt servicing or any other strategic push all in a bid not to obstruct revenue flows towards his operations.

He should also look at rebranding. The airline badly needs a makeover. This used to be a great story with perfect heritage but over the years it has now become a symbol of despondency with a battered and sick image, Tunde should look at a rebranding, an image overhaul backed with strong service to woo back the customers. Inflight advertising should open up a new revenue stream, even branding of inflight crew uniforms you would be surprised at how much this could bring in. Branding of the planes themselves would advertise brands in such a way all the outdoor board will never.

He should go into alliances with hotels in their destinations who would provide discounted services for all their passengers who have been delayed. This service can come with free transportation to and fro, this would go a long way to calm frayed nerves and ensure customer loyalty and retainer ship. Same can be done with the owners of the VIP lounges at the airport. A discounted stay at the lounges with the first drink courtesy of Aero will work wonders.

There are so many things I can sit on Shomolu couch to push after all I am not the one on the hot seat and it’s usually easy to armchair critic forgetting that the best ideas succeed only if the mindset is right. Tunde must go in with a value creation mindset, a mindset that is not only brutal in physical strength and determination but highly cerebral in thinking, building alliances with also forward thinking counter parties both local and international. Finally, he should learn from the Maevis wahala the need to build political capital, reaching out both to the seen and unseen forces that he would need to partner as he attempts this near impossible task.

I can only pray for him and wish him Gods strength. Kai.

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