Ticket To Naija

[1naija]

1naija: Congratulations.

You will recall I told you that my Mom was to come back on the 4th with World Airways/RiteTime, well she is still grounded in Lagos, no thanks to World Airways, infact the word from them now is that the flight has been postponed indefinitely, the kids can't stop asking for their grandma and she is so worried in Lagos. She never liked the hustle and bustle in Lagos and staying with my in-law is quite irksome for her.
If they don't sort this thing out before the end of this week they might have a law suit on their hands. The emotional turmoil they have subjected my 80 year old Mom is unbearable.

FF, thanks. I am telling you it's really bad. I would be surprised if someone has not already initiated a lawsuit against them. I hope you Grandma makes it back safely.

[furiously frank]

Thanks, we are still working out. If they don't work things out by this end of the week I will switch to Brits Air and sue them for the price differentials as well as other out of pocket expenses + emotional sufferings...et al.

[Akamoke]

Talking about Airlines, does anyone have any idea on what is going on with Nigerian Eagle Airlines?

[Naija fan]

Talking about Airlines, does anyone have any idea on what is going on with Nigerian Eagle Airlines?

I have never heard of them. Is this supposed to be a new airline?

[Yettycom]

Talking about Airlines, does anyone have any idea on what is going on with Nigerian Eagle Airlines?

I have never heard of them. Is this supposed to be a new airline?

i wonder. as 4 d world airways thing, it's terrible. those that came in some weeks ago had no luggage 4 more than 2 weeks. u should have seen them at the MMIA.

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

1Naija:

one of my friends was on your return flight. She was one of the unfortunate ones who waited 2 days in Lagos to get on the return flight.,

[BabaNaija]

Abeg anybone know where person fit get cheap flight to Naija? Thanks inadvance

Whatever you do, DON'T FLY WORLD AIRWAYS.

Welcome back. Just curious, whats wrong with world airways?
I know a couple of people that used it and it worked for them.

BabaNaija, thanks

I had the worst travel experience with World Airways and Ritetime Aviation. First of all, they misrepresent themselves to the public. The reason I decided to fly with World Airways in the first place was because they (Ritetime Aviation) told me the flight would be direct from Houston to Lagos, only to find out after I received the ticket that it is not a direct flight. In fact we actulaly flew from Houston to Atlanta on a different aircraft, then flew World Airways from Atlanta to Cape Verde, before going to Lagos.

We were supposed to arrive in Lagos at about 6.30 AM, but because of unnecessary delays and stop overs, we did not get to Lagos until 5.00 PM. World Airways does not have an assigned terminal at the InterContinental Airport in Houston, so they had to beg Delta airlines to allow them use one of their terminals. I assume the innitial arrangement they made did not pan out because we arrived at the gate no. printed on the tickets at 6.00AM only to find out that World Airways had changed terminals, so everyone had to haul his/her luggages to a different building for check-in. It took Ritetime Aviation 6 hours check everyone in, which ofcourse delayed our departure from Atlanta, and subsequently our arrival in Lagos. But this is the good part, Coming back to the US was a Nightmare.

I knew something was fishy when upon arriving at the Check in terminal at Murtala Muhammed, someone announced that NewYork Passengers should form a separate line from Atlanta passengers. What were New York passengers doing at the Airpoort on a Thursay, when World Airways only leaves Lagos to New York on Sundays and Tuesdays, I had asked. Evidently, World Airways had cancelled the Sunday and Tuesday flights from Lagos because the flight from New York to Lagos that they were supposed to leave on was grounded at JFK due to non payment by Ritetime Aviation. In fact, from what I heard, several passengers were stranded in Newyork during Christmas because of this.

Anyway, after the payment issue was sorted out, World Airways decided to carry the New york passengers on the Atlanta flight. This would mean that Atlanta would be the port of entry and World Airways would have to either drop off the Atlanta and Houston passengers and then head back to NewYork or make other arrangements for the New york passenger. I guess midway through the Journey in mid air, World Airways decided it would be better to make JFK the port of entry, and drop off the New York passengers before proceeding south to Atlanta and Houston. Which makes good business sense, except the crew that was to offload and service the aircraft was in Atlanta, with NO ONE scheduled to handle the aircraft in Newyork.

Imagine only 2 people offloading an aircraft of 400 people, 400 Nigerians for that matter. We arrived at JFK at 6.00 AM New years day, and did not get through customs until 11 AM. And we were scheduled to arrive Houston by 11.30 AM. To cut a long story short, I did not get home until 11 PM that night. And mine is even better because Houston was my final destination. Several passengers with children missed connecting flights to Dallas, Oklahoma, Austin, Kansas City. And all these is because Ritetime aviation did not have it's act together. There is absolutely no accountability. You would talk to the World Airways staff and they would tell you they have nothing to do with it, and that all they do is fly the airplane. And you can never get someone at Ritetime to answer their phone.

So my advice to you is to really assess the situation before flying with world airways. Do you have a week to spare if Ritetime refuses to pay it's bill, or would you rather spend 5 hours in London, and be certain of your flights? I usually travel on a tight schedule, so for me, World Airways or should I say RiteTime Aviation will have to convince me that they have improved, and that I would not be stranded, before I'll fly with them again

na wa o... Make I call my cousin them quick to make sure their flight hasn't been cancelled for the middle of january as well. with naija management, what do u expect?

[Riche007]

Stranded Passengers Threaten World Airways
From Thisday
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Stranded passengers of Rite-time World Airways have threatened to institute a 'class action' against the management of Ritetime World Airways for the unfair deal they had been subjected to in their bid to return to their base in the United States of America after their Christmas festivities in Nigeria.

World Airways is an American carrier which is into a contractual agreement with Ritetime Aviation, another American-based company owned by a Nigerian, Dr. Peter Obafemi, to operate direct flights between Nigeria and the United States.

The agreement led into the commencement of direct flights between both countries on May 29, 2003 with an MD-11 aircraft.

The current situation which resulted in passengers being stranded is reportedly occasioned by the inability of Ritetime Aviation to meet its financial obligations to the American Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The passengers, many of whom had been unable to return to their base since Saturday told newsmen at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos yesterday that the airline had failed to airlift them and at the same time put them incommunicado, threatening a class action against the airline.

They alleged that the management of the airline had left a notice at their office at the airport that passengers with problems should reach them on certain telephone numbers, adding that efforts to get through such numbers were not successful.